The Fire
by Arietti
Summary: Two years after the events of FFVII:AC the group has disbanded once again, only to be thrown back together by the kidnapping of one of their own. Little do they know it's just the beginning of something much, much bigger. Yuffentine. Rated M for language, violence, SC.
1. Chapter 1: Separation

**A/N: **I know, two new story beginnings in one day. But this one just hit and you know me- I love a good Yuffentine! Please R&R!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Final Fantasy, and I am not making any profit from this fic (however, if someone wants to send me booze, I would happily accept). :D

**The Fire**

**Chapter One: Separation  
><strong>  
>Yuffie sat quietly in the small Wutai bar, staring absently into the near-empty glass at her fingertips. Outside the rain poured down on the village, only adding to the disdain she was diligently attempting to drown with liquor.<p>

Beside her, her phone buzzed on the bar top. She glanced at the screen- "Vinnie Valentine." Ignore. Sighing, she threw the last of her drink back and waved the bartender down for a refill. How long had it been since she'd actually spoken to him – two, three weeks?

After defeating Sephiroth for a second time- two years after the original "ending" in the Northern Crater- the group had once again drifted apart. It all started with Cloud, of course. As much as that bastard seemed to have lightened up after the last battle, that damn pessimism of his came back weeks later. The group had _tried _to hold together- Tifa even relocated her bar to Rocket Town- where the village was rapidly re-developing thanks to Cid's successful space exploration program. Yuffie had relocated too, staying in one of the rooms above Tifa's tavern and teaching ninjitsu at the local school to save up money until she could open her own dojo. She was well on her way, until things started to fall apart…

_~  
>Cloud started disappearing for days at a time. At first, they'd all just assumed he'd gotten his delivery service started up again. He'd been so happy, why should they have felt the need to question him? Naturally Vincent was the first to do that. Only- as Vincent normally did- he didn't actually ask questions. He just got curious and followed Cloud when he left one night. The ex-Turk had been staying with Tifa too, right next door to Yuffie. The night Cloud snuck out, the ninja was the only one who heard Vincent follow suit- and what had she done? What ninjas do best, of course- she had watched him stealthily from the shadows.<em>

_…Unfortunately that didn't last long. Skilled as she was- you can't be one with the shadows while spying on a shadow. Vincent knew she was there before she'd even found him in the dark. Damn him and his creepy heightened sense of awareness._

_"Why are you following me?" He didn't even look at her.  
>She huffed, slinking from the corner like a child that had just gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar.<em> _"Why are you following Cloud?"_  
><em>"His trips are becoming more frequent, and his aura has begun shifting toward the Greater Darkness once more."<em>  
><em>Yuffie scowled. "What the hell are you talking about, Vinnie? We killed the Greater Darkness, remember? We totally kicked its ass!"<em>

_"No." Her skin prickled oddly as she watched him snap his shotgun shut, holstering it before turning to face her and silently striding toward the door. "As long as Cloud and I exist there will always be a piece of the Greater Darkness on this planet."_

_She rolled her eyes. "Gawd, always so morbid, aren't we?"_

_He passed her, moving to walk down the hallway. It was late- Tifa, Denzel and Marelene were asleep, Barret was over at Cid's, Red had gone back to Cosmo Canyon to take care of some Elder business and Reeve was in Midgar and wouldn't be coming out for another week. So it was just the two of them creeping around 7th Heaven at two in the morning. Being the stealthiest ones in the group, Yuffie wasn't worried about waking Tifa or the kids, at least not with movement._

_"What are you going to say to him?"_  
><em>"Nothing, I'm only going to watch."<em>  
><em>"Then I'm coming with you."<em>  
><em>"Absolutely not."<em>

_He practically glided down the stairs, the ninja close behind. As they entered the bar area she stopped, putting her hands on her hips._

_"How are you going to track him?"_  
><em>"The same way I always track people- alone."<em>  
><em>She pouted. "I'm way better at it, you know. I could help."<em>  
><em>"I can't allow it."<em>

_She groaned, tossing her hands in the air as she crossed the floor to try and catch him before he could slide his cloak on._

_"I'm going with you-."_  
><em>"Yuffie." Damn, had his voice gotten deeper? That skin-prickle came back as he turned to her, amber-red eyes nearly glowing in the dark as he stared down at her. "You have to stay here."<em>  
><em>Her mouth hung for a second, and she almost forgot what she was doing when she managed to squeak out, "Why?"<em>

_"Because." The dangerous, protective tone she had been distantly familiar with during their escapades two years ago came back in full force as he stepped toward her, leaving little more than a few inches of space between them. "If Cloud is up to something, I can't risk you being in the middle of it. I need to move quickly, and for that to happen I can't have any distractions. Do you understand?"_

_It caught her completely off-guard. Vincent Valentine- cold, emo-ass of the century, was caring…for __her safety? While he had always been protective of her in his own gentlemanly way, she'd only ever seen him be this…reverent…with Tifa and Aeris- with women. Why was he talking to her like this? And here of all places- a quiet, dark tavern where they were the only ones up and aware of Cloud Strife's late-night shenanigans?_

_...That was the first time she ever felt her stomach turn at the sound of Vincent Valentine's voice. In the worst way._

_"…Okay," she whispered, feeling that it came out more helpless and breathy than she'd intended it to, but Vincent didn't seem to notice. He only nodded, tightening his cloak as he exited the bar._

_"I'll be back soon."_

_He wasn't back soon. It was a week, actually. An entire week of Tifa worrying and Barret and Cid leaving in the Shera to go look for the missing warriors. An entire week of Yuffie pretending she didn't know where they'd gone. After the first few days Tifa started to break down. She and Cloud still weren't technically 'together,' but you wouldn't know it by the way she fell apart. On night four of the two's hiatus she had a meltdown, and it was Yuffie's duty as her friend to hold her as she cried herself to sleep. Three nights of crying, of wondering what had gone wrong- wondering if they would ever come back..._

_Yuffie could admit, after seven days she'd started to worry too. He'd said it would be soon…he would be back __soon… She tried to reassure herself. The guy had been locked in a coffin for like, a billion years or something, and his general sense of time was pretty fucked up, but seriously- seven days?_

_The afternoon they finally came home was only a happy one for about ten minutes. The entire group had assembled to go look for them; they were standing around in the bar, gearing up to head out when the two showed up; Vincent practically threw Cloud through the door- both of them waterlogged and out of breath. Everyone panicked, rushing to Cloud's side to make sure he was okay._

_Everyone but her, that was. Yuffie had stayed off to the side, tucking her shuriken away as she watched Vincent quietly. He returned her gaze and she shuddered inwardly, but didn't look away. It was strange to say in the least; this was the first time she could ever remember since meeting the group that anyone aside from Aeris had looked at her like she knew what was happening. Only when Vinnie looked at her, a knot formed in her stomach and her heartbeat sped up…_

_(Get a hold of yourself, Kisaragi,) she interrupted her own childish form of fawning to scold herself. (This is stoic-ass, 'woe is me,' demon-hag Vinnie, for god's sake. And we've got more important things to worry about right now.)_

_She swallowed hard, glancing at the group, then back to the gunslinger, and for the next ten minutes the two held a silent conversation that told her things had gone horribly wrong on his little journey._

_Ten minutes. Then all hell broke loose. To make a long story short, Cloud was quick to turn the situation on Vincent- a move that caught Yuffie off-guard. She knew Cloud was the one in the wrong, she __knew it. But Vincent never said a word. Cloud told everyone he'd been running errands for some of the developing villages, delivering medicine. Vincent had intercepted him on the road and accused him of all kinds of wrongdoing and a fight had ensued that lasted days. The story was bogus- it should have been obvious to everyone there…but no. The group didn't necessarily turn on Vincent- but it was apparent they wanted him to leave. So he did- without so much as a word, he went upstairs, gathered his armful of belongings and left. Yuffie tried to go after him- tried to stop him and ask him what really happened- but the moment he stepped out of town he disappeared. He disappeared and left her alone to deal with the aftermath of what only she knew was caused by a lie..._

~  
>Yuffie sighed, staring into her drink. That was only the beginning. She'd tried to call Vincent every day for the week after that- part of her worried about him, another part wanting to feel that strange prickle again. It wasn't right, the way things had happened. She was confused, hurt. How could Vinnie leave her like that? He didn't return her messages until nearly two months later, but it didn't matter. After that night, things really started to unravel.<p>

_~  
>Less than two weeks later Cloud left again. Yuffie heard him go- in the middle of the night, just like before. She wanted to just let him leave, to not even try to stop him, but the spiteful part of her wouldn't allow it. She was at the door before he even came down the stairs. His hand was on the hilt of his sword in seconds, but she just laughed.<em>

_"Whatever, Cloud. We both know I'm way faster than you."_  
><em>"Oh, Yuffie," he started awkwardly. "…It's you."<em>  
><em>"Yeah, cut the shit." She felt righteously indignant as she crossed her arms and strode into the dim light. "I know what you're up to. I knew you were up to it last week, too. When Vincent went after you."<em>  
><em>His act had dropped impossibly fast. "What do you know?"<em>  
><em>"I know that whatever happened wasn't Vinnie's fault, and that stuff about you 'delivering medicine' is total bullshit."<em>

_"You don't know what you're talking about," he muttered, moving to the bar to grab a few things from behind the counter.  
><em>_Yuffie raised an eyebrow. "You're not coming back this time, are you?"_

_He paused, not looking up. "…What does it matter to you? Since you know 'the truth,' you'll leave too."_  
><em>"I <span>don't<span> know the truth," she quipped, taking a few steps toward him. "I do know that you're up to something."  
><em>_"Leave it alone, Yuffie," he grumbled, moving around the bar and tucking away the stolen items as he headed for the door.  
><em>_"I could wake her up, you know. Tell her you're leaving again. Tell her I knew you left last time and that I know it had nothing to do with Vincent."_

_Cloud paused, turning to face her. "Yuffie. Stay. Out of it."_

_She couldn't help but feel startled. Who __was this person? She'd seen Cloud irritated- even angry- before, but not toward her (at least, not without her actually doing something first). At the same time though, there was something familiar about this form of asshole he'd become, as if he'd been this way before…_

_That's when it hit her._

_Yuffie sighed. Contrary to her instinctive move to become a bitch, she felt herself feeling…sad._

_"Just…promise me you're not out looking for __her again."_

_That got to him. The irritation fell from his face, and he looked almost as sad as she felt. When he didn't respond, she shut her eyes._

_"Cloud-."_  
><em>"Don't," he cut her off. "Yuffie, you don't understand-."<em>  
><em>"She's <em>_dead!" she yelled, a wave of emotion crashing over her nearly as strong as it had the day that bastard Sephiroth had killed their friend. "It's been almost three years now, Cloud." she lowered her voice, shaking her head. "…Aeris is gone."  
><em>_"I didn't expect you to understand."  
><em>_"I don't." She answered tersely, her tight throat strangling her voice to sound like someone much older than herself. "I don't understand how you can keep doing this to yourself- to Tifa."_

_Neither of them spoke for a while. When Yuffie knew there was nothing she could say to make him stay she sniffled, wiping a few angry tears away quickly with the back of her hand._

_"What should I tell her?" she asked. "When she wakes up and sees you're gone again?"_  
><em>"Tell her I'll be back soon."<em>  
><em>"She isn't stupid, Cloud." The ninja gritted her teeth, narrowing her eyes at him. "The way you've been leaving? It's just like last time. She knows it won't be long before you don't come back."<em>

_A cool breeze chose that moment to sweep through the bar, blowing out the few candles that lit the room and throwing them into darkness. She still knew he was there though. She felt him staring at the floor between them, ashamed._

_"…Tell her…tell her I'm sorry."_

_Yuffie only nodded- something she was fairly certain he couldn't see, but it didn't matter. Cloud walked out the front door and took off into the night, leaving her to sit alone at the bar and treat herself to several shots of whisky. Tifa came down an hour later, pulling a glass for herself as she sat on the stool next to the teenager, sharing a knowing, silent drink with her for about five minutes before Yuffie finally found the courage to mutter._

_"He told me to tell you he was sorry."_

~  
>Yuffie shut her eyes, bringing herself back to the reality that was the bar she currently sat in. She'd moved back to Wutai nearly three weeks after that night- when she finally couldn't handle seeing Tifa so sad anymore. There wasn't anything she could do about it- the Martial Artist turned to Barret and Cid more than she did the then 19-year-old, and Yuffie couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for Cloud leaving in the first place.<p>

"I shouldn't," she muttered into her glass. "_He's _the dumbass with dead girl issues."

She regretted the words the moment she said them. How could she refer to Aeris as a 'dead girl'? Even if it were true, something about putting it that way… it made her uneasy. She took another drink, shifting her focus to the phone that now displayed a new voicemail alert. He'd actually taken the time to leave a message. She smiled slightly.

After moving back to Wutai she'd taken up teaching children's classes in the village at her father's dojo. When Vinnie finally called her back for the first time she'd been in the middle of a lesson but dismissed it early to catch up. Granted he hadn't said anything extraordinary about what had happened that day in Rocket Town, even when she tried to pull it out of him incessantly, but in all honesty she was just glad he hadn't given up on life altogether and holed himself up in some cave somewhere for all eternity.

That would have _so _been like him.

After that, her routine was set. Tifa called her on the weekends, Red and Reeve came to visit every other week, Barret and Cid stopped by a couple of times a month, and called her at least once a week to check on her. Vincent though…he called her every Tuesday and Friday. The conversation was usually a routine 'How are you?' and 'How are classes?' Most of the time she didn't answer, but it was always nice to know he cared.

It had been that way for nearly two years now.

She actually hadn't _spoken _to him in three weeks. Something about his voice, the way he talked to her, it brought back that strange skin-prickling feeling she didn't understand- every time. But she refused to acknowledge it, shoving it to the back of her mind after every phone conversation and moving on with her life as if she didn't care whether or not she would ever hear from Vincent Valentine again.

Her phone buzzed once more, and this time she gave an amused laugh when she looked down to see that she had a text from the gunslinger. When had he learned how to text? And how? Surely not with that weird-ass clawed hand of his. She picked it up, sliding the screen open and clicking the message.

"Run."

The smile fell from her face. She had barely enough time to look up at the bartender in front of her before a bullet found its way through his neck. Yuffie gasped, dropping her phone to the table and moving to grab Conformer from her side, but it was too late. Two sets of hands were on her and a bag was over her head before she could even scream. The bite of metal pierced her neck, and the last thing she heard before losing consciousness was a man's voice.

"Hurry, before he gets here."


	2. Chapter 2: Captivity

**  
><span>Chapter Two: Captivity<span>**

Vincent entered Wutai with the speed and ferocity of a wildfire.

Quickly making his way to the simple bar that sat on the corner of the village, he threw the door open so hard it came off its hinges. He was less than surprised when nothing but death greeted him.

Several civilians- including the bartender and one of the more prominent elders he was familiar with- lay scattered on the floor, their blood painting a savage picture against the hardwood surface beneath them. No sign of the kidnappers, no sign of Yuffie. No definite sign of a struggle, for that matter._ That_ unnerved him; Yuffie was never one to go down without a fight, and from what he could tell no marks from weapons or unclaimed blood spatter stood out in the eerie scene.

He crossed the room, weapon still up and ready in his human hand should someone dare to enter behind him, and looked over the bar for any trace of her... then he saw it. The bright-orange metallic siding of her phone, glittering up from underneath an overturned bar-stool. Taking a moment to look around and reassure himself that he was indeed alone, Vincent then leaned over and scooped it up, mentally cursing himself the moment the screen lit up to display the last thing it had shown her.

**:Run.:**

(I distracted her,) he thought. (I made her hesitate, and because of that they got to her…)

Defeat threatened to claim his emotions, but something much stronger than his own self-loathing fought it away. Chaos, his inner-demon, chose that moment to instill in him a piece of its rage, spurring him to action.

_"You know she isn't far. There's still time. Find the ones that took her."_

"Hey, we got a walk in!"

He turned to face the barrel of a gun and greeted the bullet that came at him with his clawed arm, deflecting it. He returned fire; Death Penalty hit the man in the center of his chest and threw him back into the wall.

"What the hell?"

The next man that came into view took a second to look at the crimson-cloaked gunslinger before screaming.

"It's Vincent Valentine!"

The SOLDIER never made a move to attack, but Vincent could tell by the way he stood and from the sound of feet running up the stairs that they would be fighting very soon. Obviously these people- whoever they were- had been expecting company. However, something told him they hadn't expected _him_. Strolling back to the door he stepped out into the rain, following the vividly lit path the flickering street-torches and lightning revealed leading toward the mountains that lay behind the village. Fresh foot-prints pointed the way, but his charge was very short-lived.

"Stop."

It wasn't the tone in the voice that made him obey, but the familiarity of it. Coolly looking over his shoulder, Vincent felt a twinge of irritated curiosity at the sight of one of his oldest enemies.

"Rufus ShinRa. Somehow I'm not surprised."  
>"I'm afraid I cannot share feeling, Mr. Valentine." His body, long-since healed from the Geostigma that had plagued it years before, stood tall and lean against the shadows of his agents behind him. "Of all the people to come running after the Princess, I hardly expected <em>you<em>."

Vincent gave no reply. He didn't care. What he wanted was an answer.

"Where have you taken her?"  
>"Doesn't matter," Rufus waved nonchalantly. "You won't find her."<br>"Hm."  
>"I would suggest you call your little friends for help, but I have the feeling you already did."<p>

Again, he didn't answer. Of _course_ Vincent had been smart enough to message Nanaki before leaving for the village. Rogue as he was, he knew from experience that walking into an unknown situation assuming to be the quickest, strongest fighter there- despite his excellent skill- was nothing short of foolish, not to mention arrogant.

"I see," the blonde pursed his lips in annoyance. "I shall leave you then. If you survive you may share what you've seen here." He began to walk away, then paused to look back. "Vincent?"

The ex-Turk raised an eyebrow.

"You never did ask _why _I took her. Do you already know? Or do you not care?"

His stoic silence was the only reply. Rufus chuckled.

"Of course, I should probably assume both. Forgive me, Valentine, I forget that your heart was extracted years ago- you don't really _care _about_ anything_ anymore, do you?"

With that, he disappeared in the wall of SOLDIERS behind him- leaving nothing but rain and the sting of his words in his wake.

Vincent felt none of it- scanning his opponents with impossible calm as he casually reloaded Death Penalty and chambered it.

"Well then," his voice was low and his eyes were dark, "let's get on with it."  
>..~~~...~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~<p>

Yuffie shuddered awake. Gawd, what a horrible dream! Being attacked in a bar, Johnny the bartender getting shot through the neck, someone sticking her with a needle? She really needed to lay off the vodka…

As her eyes adjusted, a cold realization swept over her when she found she was lying on a floor made of steel and her wrists were bound behind her back.

"_Fuck,_" she grumbled- for more than one reason. Not only did _not _waking up in her own bed mean the entire 'dream' she'd had was in fact real, it also meant she had indeed been kidnapped.

Also, it inevitably meant she was on an airship. People who kidnapped her _always _seemed to love putting her on airships.

"Fuckity, fuck-fuck-fuck…" Her stomach lurched as the rumble of the ship's engines churned through her insides. Where the hell was Cloud with a tranquilizer when she needed him? Damn, spikey-headed prick- this probably had something to do with him!

"Ah, you're awake."

She jumped, rolling upright to face the intruder.

"Who's there?"  
>"No one you haven't been kidnapped by before, baby."<p>

That voice, she _knew _that voice. Ignoring her sickness long enough to spring to her feet, she faced the door of her cell angrily as the sloppily-dressed bastard came into focus.

"Reno!"  
>"Still sharp as a tack, ain't ya? I always knew there was more to you than that sweet little-ass-."<br>"_God-dammit _Reno let me _out _of here!"

The red-headed Turk only cackled at her. "No can do, Princess. Boss's orders- your spindly ass is to 'stay in the confines of the holding cell' until we land."

She stepped to the bars that separated them, feeling her teenage whiny-self coming back for an appearance as she stuck out her bottom lip and moaned. "But Reeeenoooooo! You _know _how I get airsick! I can't handle being this close to the engine for looooo-!"

The ship suddenly pitched to the side on a turn, sending the ninja tumbling to the floor with a loud "_Sh-it!" _Reno only laughed harder.

"God I knew if I waited for you to wake up you'd make it worth my while!" He pulled a small vial out of his pocket and tossed it into the cell with her before turning to leave. "Your tranq, mi'lady. If you can get yourself out of those knots- tied by yours truly, of course- you deserve to have it."

Yuffie cursed with such veracity it would have made Cid proud, all the while forcing herself upright. She wriggled, sliding her roped hands under her behind and around her legs, eventually getting them in front of her so that she could start in on every attempt to untie them. The first attempt, sadly enough, began with an assault of her teeth.

_"Fuck_ you, Turk," she spat between mouthfuls of twine. "Where are we going anyway?"  
>Reno spun back to her- startling slightly when he saw how far along she already was with her binds, then playing it off with a shrug. "Dunno. Boss didn't say much. I caught a glimpse of the pilot's map though- it kind of looks like we're headin' toward the City of the Ancients, or that area anyway."<p>

Yuffie hesitated, the uneasy look in Reno's turquoise eyes sending them both into an awkward silence.

"Why would we go there…?" She tried to forge on with the conversation as if neither of them remembered what horrible things had happened at that place.  
>He shrugged again, this time shoving his hands deep in his pockets as he started pacing in front of her cell. "Who knows, Ancient stuff. The Mako deposits in the soil there are probably worth a fortune. Maybe there's some old artifact he's looking for."<p>

"None of those things would require _me _in any way whatsoever, dumbass."  
>His temper flared and he gave her a look. "Hey piss-off, you whiny little brat! I just took the order to come and get you, okay?"<br>Yuffie's eyes widened with reciprocated anger. "_You_ shot Johnny? What kind of _asshole_ are you?"  
>"What the hell are you talking about-?"<br>"Oh don't act like you don't know, you bastard! What the fuck did Johnny ever do to you-?"  
>"Hey, I didn't shoot <em>shit<em>, okay? I don't even know who the hell Johnny is!" She didn't respond right away, so he 'fwapped' his blazer just to let her know how much he _didn't_ care. "…Not that I _wouldn't_. I'd shoot just about anyone if the price was right…I'm just sayin'. It wasn't me."

She fell quiet and stopped working to untie her hands. He frowned at her.

"What? You gonna stop tryin' ta break outta here 'cause your boyfriend got shot?"  
>"He wasn't my <em>boyfriend<em>," she grumbled, drawing her knees up as she leaned against the wall and looked away.  
>Reno seemed put-off. "Then what's the big deal?"<br>The ninja shot him a look of disgust. "Are you _kidding_ me? He was a regular guy, Reno. A _bartender. _He had no business getting killed on account of me. He didn't even know how to fight…"

Trailing off again, she let her stare fall to the floor, ignoring Reno's exaggerated yawn at her story.

"Geez, kid. What the hell's gotten into _you_? The Yuffie I knew woulda already been outta this cell and parachuting off the lower deck." Pushing off one of the storage crates, he shook his head. "You've gone soft. I thought you moved away from those losers in Rocket Town?"  
>She rolled her eyes. "I did."<br>"Then what gives?" She didn't look at him, and he tilted his head to the side, chewing his jaw. "Ah, I know. It's that freak, ain't it? The guy that thinks he's a better shot than me? Yeah…I knew it. All that sentimental bullshit he always spouts about- it's rubbin' off on ya!"

Finally looking at him, she raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
>He grinned wryly. "Boss radioed and said there was a holdup in your village- somethin' about the red-cloaked demon showin' up. Finished off half of his personal guards, too…" He tried to be cool, leaning against the box closest to the cell as he pulled out his nightstick and spun it around his fingers. "…Before they took him out, naturally."<br>Yuffie snorted. "You're lying."  
>"Wish I were, babe," he gave a sardonic sigh and stopped his weapon mid-spin. "With all the hype about his little demon buddy he carries around with him, you woulda thought he'd been a tougher fight."<br>"_Please_, if he'd turned to Chaos we'd _all _be dead."

Reno clicked his tongue, going back to spinning his weapon. "Maybe so, but one thing's for sure…you didn't try to tell me he _wasn't_ the one that showed up first to your little going away party."  
>Yuffie stared at him blankly and he laughed, tossing the EMR into the air and catching it with conviction. "I <em>knew<em> it! You _have_ been talkin' to him!"  
>"Oh grow up, moron." She rolled her eyes again and turned back to the wall. "I talk to<em> all<em> of them every week."  
>"Then how come he was the first to show?"<br>"Who knows! He's got that crazy-gross monster thing running around inside of him, maybe it told him I was in trouble?"

"Yeah, whatever," he pushed away from the crate again. Sheathing his weapon he waved her off, walking toward the stairs. "Now you're just boring me. You've changed, Yuffie. Too much to be any fun to pick on- even when you're in a holding cell in ropes- and that's saying a lot, coming from _me_."

His exit was quick- much to her relief- and the moment she heard the door shut she thumped back against the wall again with a short breath.

"Yeah, I've changed, Reno- unfortunately not enough to forget how to get myself out of your shitty-ass rope jobs." Reaching up under her headband she pulled out a sliver of metal and began to quickly saw through her ropes. "I just hope that when I jump offa here you're standing close enough to that lower deck for me to push you off first…dumbass."


	3. Chapter 3: Failure

**Chapter Three: Failure**

"Start from the beginning."

Vincent looked at his four-legged friend with tired patience as he was asked to go through the story of his fight in Wutai a third time.

"Are you afraid I've left something out?"  
>The fiery beast shook his hackles. "Not afraid. Certain. There is something about the events that don't add up- something you've omitted. Not to your own knowledge, I'm sure."<p>

Beside him, Tifa cleared her throat. "What Nanaki means is that there must me something we missed- something minute in the details that might help us figure out why they took Yuffie..." She trailed off, finishing her bandage job of Vincent's bullet-grazed arm with a simple knot in the gauze.

The older warrior exhaled softly. "I believe we should be more concerned with the where than the why."

Tifa and Nanaki glanced at one another, then back at him. The young barmaid placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Of course, Vincent. We meant that too."

Silence took them all uncomfortably as they sat in the shambles of the Wutai Tavern's back room. Off to the side Barret and Cid filed in; having been on body-detail, they were covered in victims' blood and looked like they could use a stiff-drink or two. A nod to Tifa and the young woman set to her fall-back trade, going to the front to mix them up something strong.

"Please," Nanaki pressed, amber eye pleading gently. "Again."

Vincent sighed, brushing his sweaty hair over one bare shoulder as he took himself back to the beginning one last time.  
>~<p>

_"Well then, let's get on with it."_

_The first soldier lunged. The ex-Turk shot him point blank, not giving his aim much thought. After that, the onslaught came quickly. Each SOLDIER attacked more fiercely than the last- presumably out of rage and the determination to avenge the ones the demon-man had killed. __It was a sorry sight, this battle. Vincent- though alone- was, hands down, more skilled and powerful than all of the fighters before him combined. He weeded through them like Sephiroth weeded through townsfolk- a similarity he was sickly aware of as it occurred._

_As the number of SOLDIERS that reached him at the same time grew larger, Vincent fought harder- using his clawed hand as a blade to disembowel those who ventured too close and throwing men into the paths of their comrades' gunfire. Nothing touched him- not their screams, not their begs for mercy or the fear in their eyes as he ended their short lives. These men had come to him in the name of what they thought was justice, obviously unaware that the man giving them orders was one of the biggest targets of Justice himself._

_Then, Vincent had little room to talk. Had Justice been a fair mother, he would have been dead a long time ago._

_As he neared the end of battle he slowed his pace- attempting to pull whatever information about Yuffie he could from his enemies before the light abandoned their eyes. He was unsuccessful, until an encounter with one of the younger SOLDIERS left him with a little more than weak departing curses._

_"Please."_

_He stopped, taking note the boy had full vocal function at this point in the end stage of his life, and slowly lowered his feet back to the ground. He was careful not to twist his clawed hand any further into his insides._

_"I know..." he gasped. "I know..."  
><em>_"If you have something to confess, child, say it now." Vincent felt the urgency of the moment weighing inside him, but kept his tone level.  
><em>_"She is a piece of the puzzle. A part of the resurrection."  
><em>_The gunslinger felt his breath catch. "Sephiroth returns again? After everything we've done-"  
><em>_"No."_

_Vincent fell silent, looking at his victim with glowing eyes as the boy tried to speak with a fourth of the required lung capacity._

_"...Her. They will resurrect...Her."_

_And then he was gone. The ex-Turk would have been angry had the new onslaught of SOLDIERS not appeared so fast. He had to fight to keep himself alive long enough to tell the others what he knew…  
>~ <em>

Cid snorted, leaning against the wall he was posted beside and pulling a cigarette from his goggle-strap. "Damn Valentine, that story was almost better'n sex." Lighting it, he took a drag and blew the smoke off to the side. "..._almost_ bein' the key word here, of course."

"What else ya got?" Barret chimed in, knowing the gunslinger would pay no mind to the old pilot's theatrics.

"That is the story," he looked around the room, noticing Nanaki was still the only one who would look him in the eye after all this time.

Even Tifa with all her good intention and natural kind-heartedness seemed to avert his gaze when he spoke; instead pretending to be very interested in handing off Cid and Barret's newly made drinks and retaking her seat beside them.

This was, of course, because it was becoming increasingly obvious that there was more to Vincent when he talked than just a dramatic story- and the last time they'd all been together had been one _hell_ of a dramatic story.

"After the young man died, I finished the fight with the rest of the SOLDIERS and waited for your arrival."  
>"And no one else spoke to you?" Tifa asked.<br>"No."

"Great," Cid pushed off the wall to begin pacing. "So that's all we've got to go on- that skinny-ass brat is a piece in some new science experiment ShinRa's started. That's just fucking perfect."

"Based on the little evidence I've been given, I can only assume the 'her' in this equation is Jenova." Vincent murmured.

Everyone groaned._ No one_ wanted to consider that.

"Unless," Nanaki dared to muse softly. "It is not."

The room was silent. There was only one other 'Her' any of them could imagine someone like Rufus would seek to bring back from the grave, and that 'Her' was even less fun to think about.

"Yeah, well, that isn't possible," Tifa breathed, lowering her eyes.  
>Barret looked at her, frowning. "Tifa…"<p>

"Who's to say it wouldn't be possible?" The Cosmo Canyon Elder continued on as if the subject weren't sensitive. "They've done it with Jenova numerous times, and the same concept in regard to reanimating cellular structures could apply to Aeris-."  
>"Come on now, Red!" Cid flicked his filter to the blood-spattered floor and stamped it out angrily. "That's enough!"<p>

The beast regarded him indifferently, looking to Vincent.

"You _know_ this is a possibility."

As much as Vincent wanted to just say 'yes,' the awkward aura that had taken over the room was unsettling. "I am certain of nothing."

"You rarely are," Red refused let him off the hook. "But if you had sensed this to not be so you would have said it." He shook his mane again, turning to Tifa as she stared pointedly at her hands in her lap. "You know there is much more to this than anyone will admit, and Vincent has kept his silence long enough for Cloud's sake."

She froze. For a moment Vincent was sure someone would scold the beast for his brashness, but no one did. No one really disagreed. After a long minute of quiet, Tifa sighed. "He never said anything about his trips."

"He didn't have to, Teef," Barret said gently. "It ain't no different than last time."

Cid seemed to be the most frustrated with the news- pulling another cigarette to light as he muttered a terse 'fuckin'-A'. Nanaki approached the martial artist, his humble stance proposing an apology for the way he'd been pressuring her. After a moment of quiet contemplation she looked at him.

"I'm sorry Nanaki," she shook her head, tresses of mahogany hair falling to frame her pretty face. "I really didn't think it would amount to anything. After everything that happened last time..."  
>"No one blames you," he said soothingly, nuzzling her knee. "But it is becoming imperative that if you know where Cloud is you tell us."<br>"I don't," she sighed, finally plucking up the courage to look at Vincent. "...but he does."

Everyone turned to face the gunslinger, who stood.

"To Old Midgar."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Easy. Easy. Easy.

That's what it had been like for Yuffie to slip out of those sloppy binding knots and pick the lock on her holding cell. Not even ten minutes after that red-headed asshole left her alone, the 21-year-old Princess was free as a bird.

…Well, free as a bird that can't fly and gets sick on airships anyway.

(I am _so _out of here, right after I get Conformer…) She turned a couple more corners, pausing every few seconds to steady her stomach, before finally reaching the room she knew was their usual spot for stashing her belongings. Picking the lock, she pushed the heavy door in and quickly located her utility belt, her arm guards and...

(My Conformer- where the hell is it?)

"Looking for _this_…?"

Her eyes narrowed and she visibly shirked at the whiny-yet-somehow-still-cocky voice.

"I hate you _so_ fucking much, Reno."  
>"I wish we weren't at such odds, babe." As she turned to face him, she saw he was leaning against the doorway near the end of the hall, dangling her missing weapon from his fingertips. "You and I would make one hell of a team."<br>"Oh, we would?" She crowed. "How's that? I would make kick ass plans to steal materia and you would set our getaway car on fire?"

Reno scowled. "Hey, I'm better than that!"  
>"Ha!" Yuffie thought to continue on with her verbal lashing, but- catching his moment of vulnerability- decided to work him to her advantage. "…Well, I don't know."<br>He perked up. "You 'don't know'?"  
>"About the tag-team stealing," slowly she sauntered the distance between them, coyly twisting her fingers in her hair. "I mean, our thieving skills<em> are<em> best when they aren't paired with anything, right?"

The Turk twitched, unsure of how to take this sudden change in persona. "Um…yeah?"  
>"So if we were going to be an excellent team, it would probably have to be under different terms altogether, right?"<br>Catching her suggestive inflection, he smirked. "Whadd'ya propose?"

Yuffie stopped in front of him, allowing the schmuck to lean in and _almost_ pursue something only _he _thought was going to happen…then palmed him square in the nose.

With a yelp he windmilled back, letting her weapon clang to the floor as he grabbed his face and sputtered obscenities. For the first few seconds his words were incomprehensible, but when his mouth finally caught up with is brain it was an earful.

"Son-of-a-bitch-you-crazy-ass-cunt-I-can't-believe-you-would-fucking-play-something-like-that-you-filthy, filthy _whore!"_

Yuffie blinked. "Come again?"  
>Reno whimpered, doubling over as he looked up at her pitifully. "You hit me in the <em>nose!"<br>_  
>She couldn't take it- she laughed, rolling her eyes as she strapped her weapon down and walked past him onto the lower deck of the airship.<p>

"Reno, quit being such a baby-back-_bitch _and put your parachute on so I can throw you off this fucking ship before someone comes looking for us."

He would have protested but the glitter of a ready shuriken in her hand shut him up. Pouting, the defeated Turk did as he was told- giving one of the nastiest looks he could muster to her as she blew him a kiss and kicked him over the side. Instinctively, she paused to see if his chutes opened. When they did, she braced herself against the railing and prepared to jump after him.

"Not so fast."

…Somewhere in the "Ten Commandments" of being a Ninja is the rule that when someone yells "Not so fast" after you, you don't listen- because it usually ensues to something akin to all hell breaking loose.

Then again, it had been a _long _time since Yuffie had actually been forced to put her skills into practice- Reno didn't count.

Turning to the voice, two things happened. The first being a shriek of absolute terror ripping itself from Yuffie's throat as her eyes fell on what was unmistakably Aeris Gainsborough's form- without a face.

The second thing was a combination. The sound of electricity, the bite of metal, and darkness.


	4. Chapter 4: Confession

**A/N: Thank you all who have been keeping up with this thus far! I hope you're loving it, please continue to review if you are- it keeps me going! If you're not, that's okay too- just as long as you're enjoying it!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own FF, not making any gil from this! ;)  
><strong>

**Chapter Four: Confession**

Yuffie groaned as her eyes fluttered open to meet the steel floor for a second time. She knew by now that her kidnapping was real, but a faceless Aeris look-alike? That _had _to be bullshit, right?

"Are you awake?"

The deep, familiar sound of Rude's voice reverberated through her skull like a bad hangover. She groaned again and pushed herself to lie on her side, forcing her eyes to focus on his broad form beside her holding cell.

"...what happened?"  
>"Tazer," he answered bluntly. "Side of your neck."<br>"Fuck," she muttered, screwing her eyes shut as she turned her forehead to the ground, desperate for something cool to touch her face.  
>"You shouldn't have tried to escape."<p>

"Could you please stop talking?" She pleaded through her screaming head. "Or talk softer, or something? I can't handle your voice."

The Turk, normally indifferent and stoic in his actions, saw the prisoner was being uncharacteristically genuine in her begging, and lowered his tone.

"You threw Reno off the airship."  
>"He was asking for it, believe me."<br>Rude snorted. "I do. But this is bad for you. The President is already very unhappy."

"_He's _unhappy?" she tried to snip, finding it impossible to hold an angry expression against the fluorescent lights. "_I'm_ the one who had to see some faceless hallucination of Aeris before you bastards knocked me out!"

Rude tensed. Yuffie didn't like sharing the thought any more than he enjoyed hearing it, but it was a test. A bargain for her sanity, if you will.

He didn't respond. Not a shirk, not a "what the fuck are you talking about?" Nothing. This was disheartening, because until that moment she was certain it had all been a dream. Now she wasn't so sure it wasn't just Rude being...rude. Fighting every natural urge she had to puke the ninja pushed herself upright, sitting on her knees and leaning heavily against the bars that separated her from the bald assassin.

"Why aren't you telling me I'm crazy?" When he still didn't answer, her voice became hoarse and desperate. "...Rude?"

He shifted uneasily in his seat, unable to face her. Yuffie's expression went from concern to panic.

"Rude!"

The sound of the door flying open made the man jump, but the ninja didn't flinch, the feeling of horror holding her still.

"Is she awake?"  
>"Y-yes sir." Rude stood, saluting respectfully to the President. "Just woke up, sir."<p>

The blonde-haired, white-suited mob boss turned to the girl in the floor, anger flashing in his eyes.

_"You_," he started, voice terse. "Do you have _any_ idea how many men your side-show freak friend cost me!"

She only glared at him.

"_Forty-six! _Forty-six of ShinRa's finest- mowed down by your red-frocked bastard of a knight!"

It was all noise to her. There was only one thing Yuffie wanted to know, and it had nothing to do with Vincent.

"What is that thing that looks like Her, and why is it on this ship?"

Rufus blinked. He opened his mouth to retaliate, then realized that he didn't know what she was talking about. He looked to Rude, who squirmed under his stare.

"She escaped her holding cell and threw Reno off the ship. Vecena detained her on the lower deck."

Grumbling deep in his throat Rufus cracked his neck to the side and looked down at the Princess, irritated.

"You don't get to ask questions here, little girl."  
>"The <em>fuck<em> I don't!" she suddenly found the strength to yell, staring a hole through the man who had caused so much pain in her young life. "_Who_ is she, and _why the __fuck __does she look like Aeris?"_

Unfortunately, her anger only amused ShinRa. He chuckled softly, brushing a rebellious locke of hair out of his face as he smirked.

"Well, well, my dear Yuffie. It seems to me if you want to know so badly, you're just going to have to wait it out. Not that you have much of a choice." Turning from her, he clasped his hands behind his back in an annoying display of nonchalance. "You'll find out soon enough."

Yuffie's face fell, and she felt her stomach begin to knot up again- only this time it was hardly because of the airship.

"What did you do?"

Another menacing laugh and he started to leave. Although she was drained, Yuffie still found it in her to be a bit vindictive.

"Forty-six, you said?"  
>He stopped, shoulders visibly tensing as the pride from his taunting waned.<br>"If those were your best men, you might wanna step it up a notch, Boss- because once Vinnie finds out what you've done to Her, it'll take Bahamut itself to save your sorry ass."

He turned suddenly, rage evident in his delicate face as he started to rush the holding cell between them. Yuffie sprang to her feet, fear far from her as she stepped to the bars, daring him to reach inside.

"President ShinRa!" Rude yelped, knowing that while his Boss could be a fierce man in battle, he would be no match for the small woman if he attacked her at a time like this- regardless of the fact she was in ropes. He moved between them, hands raised in a plea for him to stop. Rufus skidded to a halt, glaring at his minion in frustration as he struggled to compose himself. After a few moments of huffing and puffing the President exchanged one last hateful glance with Yuffie before storming out of the room, spitting over his shoulder.

"You won't live long enough to tell him."

Soon after, all was silent, and the Turk settled back onto the crate beside the cell with a relieved sigh. Beneath him, Yuffie had plunked to the floor once more and was staring at something only she could see.

"How is your stomach?"  
>Her eyes darted up to meet her reflection in his sunglasses. "Fine."<p>

An awkward pause and he folded his arms across his chest. Yuffie swallowed hard.

"Rude?"  
>"Yes?"<br>"…Why does that thing look like Aeris?"

Rude was never one to care…about much of anything, really- but somehow the way Yuffie spoke to him made him feel like he could- like he _should_. Like the funny little antics the Turks and AVALANCHE had always shared were nothing but a game, and this moment- this rift in the norm of their usual interactions- was like someone had hit 'pause' because the story wasn't really a good joke anymore.

She didn't know it, but he was looking right at her- a suppressed urge to confide in her his own worries about the situation deep in his shielded gaze.

"…I don't know, Yuffie. I really don't."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

It didn't take long for the Shera to reach old Midgar. As Cid guided the ship down just outside the ruined city, Nanaki approached Vincent where he stood in the hangar.

"...I'm sorry."

The ex-Turk glanced down at him, their old gazes meeting calmly. "Why?"

"I should have said something sooner," he explained, a cool breeze from the opening doors blowing his mane away from his face. "I shouldn't have let them push you away like they did."  
>"I chose to leave, Nanaki." He stood from the crate he leaned against, checking his weapon. "They knew the truth but weren't prepared to face it, and I no longer posses the will to try to understand the emotions of others."<br>"Maybe so, but we're your friends, Vincent. Things like this shouldn't happen."  
>"I believe it is <em>because <em>we are friends that things like this happen." The hangar door finished opening and he started for the field, looking at the beast with a hidden wry smile. "But I suppose worse things _have_ happened to me in my lifetime."

Nanaki gave a bemused snort, following him out of the airship.

The ruins of Midgar weren't nearly as hazardous as they used to be; a lot of the more rickety pieces of wreckage had already collapsed, and the monsters that ran about were fairly weak- most of them scattering when the group passed by. AVALANCHE walked in silence for the most part, save the occasional under-the-breath cursing from Cid about what a shit-hole the place was. When they finally reached what they had come for, there wasn't really a pause for discussion.

The old church was still standing, somehow beautiful in its desolation. Moonlight glittered off the stain-glass windows, most of which had been shattered in the initial collapse of the upper plate, others chipped from the infamous battle Tifa had fought against Loz two years ago. As the group started in the young woman stopped, shifting her weight uneasily between her feet as she stared up at the building that was so much more than just a wasted stack of wood, bricks and mortar.

Vincent approached from behind, following her stare and knowing what she was struggling with.

"You haven't been back here since the children were healed."  
>"I've had no reason to come to this place," she replied, not looking at him. When he said nothing she shook her head. "This isn't her grave, you know. We didn't bury her here." She hesitated, then added softly, "...Some of us still haven't buried her at all."<p>

"We cannot control how we grieve, Tifa. Sometimes there are reasons we cannot let go."

It wasn't what she wanted to hear, but he was right.

"I just wish he could see she wasn't the only one who cared about him."

Her voice was almost inaudible, but the gunslinger knew what she meant. Looking back to the church, he hummed.

"You misunderstand, Tifa. Sometimes we cannot let go of what's already gone simply because the Spirits of the Planet won't allow it. Sometimes there are things that need to be finished before we can move on."

Looking at the side of her porcelain face, she met his ruby gaze shyly.

"He knows you care about him, and that you always will regardless of his actions. That is why it is easy for him to leave- he knows you will understand."

Tifa stared at him, trying to think of something to say; but just like Vincent normally did, _he_ decided when the conversation was over- and _now _was that time. The tall man turned from her and strode on, disappearing through the church doors and leaving her alone outside.  
>~~~~~<p>

The great auditorium was eerily quiet as they entered the church. Cid paused at the door to stamp out a cigarette he'd just lit, feeling the place demanded some shred of respect. As he finished making sure the embers were gone Vincent came into the doorway behind him, dark eyes fixed on the small pool near the front.

"...Been a while, eh Valentine?"

He glanced at the old pilot, who leaned heavily on Venus Gospel as he looked over the church in quiet revelry.

"It was always nice to come here."

Cid chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "How's your demon buddy like it?"

Vincent paused thoughtfully. "It makes him quiet." He kept walking down the aisle. "So...tired, I suppose."

As they reached the front of the church they stopped beside Nanaki and Barret, who were watching their missing leader with quiet patience as he knelt at the altar on the other side of the water, praying. When he was finished he stood, turning to face them calmly.

"What happened?" He looked over them, oddly calm at first, until he noticed someone was missing. "Where's Tifa?"  
>"Outside," Barret answered sharply. "But this ain't about her."<p>

The ex-SOLDIER hesitated, then gave a slightly annoyed sigh.

"Is this some sort of intervention? I see Vincent is back-."

"Ain't nothin' to do with him, either." Cid cut him off. "It's the ninja brat."  
>"Yuffie?"<br>"She's been taken." Nanaki explained. "By President ShinRa."  
>He startled. <em>"Rufus<em>?"  
>"We believe it may have something to do with Aeris."<p>

Cloud visibly paled in the moonlight, a look of disbelief shrouding his features.

"That's...no." he shook his head. "That isn't possible."  
>"Yes it is."<p>

Tifa's light-but-stern voice carried over the distance from the doorway to the altar. Everyone turned to look at her as she made her way toward them.

"You know it is." She repeated, staring at him in that knowing way only she and Aeris had ever been able to pull off.  
>He crumbled. "...Maybe."<p>

"Got somethin' to share?" Barret asked with a raised brow.  
>"If he does, he may share it with us elsewhere," Red interjected. "We should not talk of such matters in this place."<p>

"I know where we can go," Tifa offered. Shooting a look of disdain at her childhood friend, she turned to leave. "Follow me."


	5. Chapter 5: Listening

**A/N: Sorry sorry sorry for the delay, friends! I've been on vacation. Enjoy the chapter!  
>Disclaimer: Don't own it, not making anything off it.<strong>

**Chapter Five: Listening**

It was a project she'd never finished.

Tifa had always said she would rebuild 7th Heaven in the slums; she'd always felt an odd sense of loyalty and nostalgia to the less-than-perfect place she'd called home for so long. Shortly after the upper city of Midgar had been virtually destroyed she'd done just that...sort of.

It sat empty- her unfinished bar- unpainted and lonely in what remained of the sector 5 slum area; a tiny bit of light peeked down onto its partially constructed roof, and small patches of flowers jutted up around the foundation, undoubtedly having spread from Aeris's childhood home that still stood less than a mile away.

"It actually looks better than it did," she mused quietly as they approached.

Cloud walked beside her. "It never looked bad."

Coming to the front door Barret halted the group to investigate the area, pausing at the entrance with his gun-arm ready as he looked back to his young friend.

"I didn't even know you'd built it up this far."  
>"It was going to be a surprise," she replied, following him through the door as he entered. "Until Cloud talked me out of finishing-," she glanced at him, "-convinced me to start over in Edge."<br>"There was nothing left here," the mercenary looked at her. "Any business you would have made went under when the city did."

There was an uneasy silence between them as the rest of AVALANCHE filed into the bar. As soon as the door shut Tifa turned and looked over the main room, brow furrowing.

"Someone's been living here."

It was true. For a place that had been presumed abandoned for the better part of the last four years the bar looked remarkably clean. There were fresh fruits and vegetables on the counter, a few used dishes in the sink and the electricity was on.

"I can't imagine who that might've been," Cid muttered sarcastically, and Cloud sighed.  
>"It's a good shelter. I haven't been here very long."<br>"Why here though?" Nanaki jumped onto a nearby chair, entering the conversation with detached interest. "Why Midgar at all?"  
>"I wanted to be near the church."<p>

Barret gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I _thought_ you were prayin' in there when we found ya. Never took you to be the religious type."  
>"It wasn't about religion. Look-," Cloud shook his head, cutting himself off as he held up his hands and faced the group. "Guys. I can explain everything if you let me."<br>"Is it gonna be an explanation or another _story_?" Cid lit up as he found a seat in the corner, leaning his chair back against the wall. "'Cause that one you told us about Valentine a while back was pretty damn convincing."

The ex-SOLDIER winced, running a hand down his face.

"...I'm sorry."

The apology was to all of them, but everyone took it as though it were aimed at Vincent. The gunslinger stood in the doorway, watching the younger man carefully.

"You should continue on with your explanation. The longer we wait the more time ShinRa has to get what he needs from Yuffie, whatever that may be."

All eyes shifted to the old leader of AVALANCHE, who sighed forlornly as he leaned against the bar.

"It wasn't supposed to go like this," he shook his head, gaze falling to the floor. "This is all wrong."  
>"Well make it right then kid," Cid exhaled slowly, cocking his head back as he struck another match to light the kerosene lamp that sat on the table beside him. "Tell the truth, save the girl- all that nice shit."<p>

No one else offered a word of encouragement, so he began.

"Two years ago…I started having dreams- about the church. They were vivid in the beginning, a lot like the ones from before when I had Geostigma. Only this time Aeris was crying, begging for help. She kept telling me she was trapped and that she needed to get out. I would always try to help her; I asked her what she needed me to do but all she ever told me was to go to the church and pray for her safety. To pray they never found out…"

"'Pray they never found out'?" Nanaki repeated softly. "Did she say what? Or who?"

He shook his head. "No. Not at first, anyway," he looked at Tifa. "Not long after that, we started hearing about ShinRa's plan to rebuild Midgar."

"That was supposed to be years from now," she tilted her head. "They said they had to 'examine the area' first- make sure it was safe."  
>Barret snorted. "We sure as shit oughta know by now Rufus ShinRa don't give a damn about nobody's safety."<br>"I knew they were up to something, but I didn't think it had anything to do with us, much less Aeris. Until I was coming down here on a trip to pray and I found SOLDIERS poking around the slums near the church."

Tifa hummed. "What were they looking for?"  
>"Don't know. But they <em>found <em>me. I tried to take them on- I didn't think there were so many of them- but they kept coming." He paused to throw a timid glance at the red-cloaked man. "...Then Vincent showed up."

"The 'Battle that lasted for days,' huh?" Cid muttered.  
>"It <em>did <em>last for days...but it wasn't between _us_. If he hadn't shown up I would have probably been killed."  
>"But you weren't." Vincent's brooding tone warned him to stay on track.<p>

"No, I wasn't. So we went to Elmyra's house to rest up before coming back, where we found a bunch of notes Rufus had been making on some new combination materia. They called it Rebirth. We originally thought it was meant for Sephiroth, but the more we read through the papers the more we realized they were talking about a woman. I assumed they meant Aeris. Vincent thought Jenova was more likely."

Nanaki eyed the gunman. "You knew of this?"

"I 'knew' of nothing," he replied, turning his gaze to the wall. "I believed the entire notion of ShinRa wanting to resurrect anyone involved with the Ancients was a farce, considering everything he's been through. When Cloud asked my opinion on the identity of this 'female' subject in the notes, I simply gave my first thought." He scanned the room coldly, knowing they all wanted to ask the same question. "I didn't believe ShinRa would be foolish enough to repeat the mistake of necromancy a third time, _that_ is why I never mentioned it."

When everyone seemed satisfied with his explanation they looked back to Cloud, who seemed ashamed. "I wanted to stay and find out more but...Vincent said we needed to go back."

"But you resisted, so he had to drag you," Barrett raised an eyebrow, glancing at the ex-Turk. "Kind of extreme, Valentine."  
>"He wouldn't have stayed here," he countered coolly. "There was too much information in those notebooks for Rufus to just leave them behind. I knew as soon as the President caught word of his SOLDIERs' disappearing he would be out here to collect his research. Cloud undoubtedly would have followed him without so much as a phone call to tell us he'd gone- in other words, we would have never found him."<p>

"So you brought him back to Rocket Town and left all that paperwork here?" Cid crowed, dropping his feet to the floor with a loud clunk. "The hell were you two thinkin'?"

"We didn't just leave it," Cloud snipped. "I brought as much of it back here as I could." Turning from the group he walked behind the bar and retrieved a small metal box full of papers. Setting it down he looked at Nanaki. "This is everything I know about Rebirth."

A long moment of silence, and Barret leaned forward. "So that's it? _That's _all you know? Your big secret for leaving all the damn time is some shit ShinRa wrote up?"

"I don't get it," Cid chimed in. "Valentine- you went through _all_ that trouble to get his spiky-headed ass back to Town, then you just up and left when you knew good and well there wasn't no way in hell he'd stay."

Vincent didn't look at him. "I knew he would leave again, yes. But by that point I was certain Rufus had come and gone, and there was little in the notes we found to give us something to follow on."

"So you let him come back to keep looking." Tifa crossed her arms. "And you let us run you off."  
>"There's more."<p>

The group fell silent as Nanaki shook his mane, casting a knowing look at the two telling the story.

"There's something else, isn't there?"

Vincent only glanced at Cloud, who stiffened slightly.

"...When we were on our way back we crossed paths with the Turks. They didn't see us. As we went to go around them we overheard them talking about orders they'd just received to start a scouting detail in Wutai; they were leaving the next morning for the village."

Tifa furrowed her brow, pointing to Cloud. "So...you came back," she drew an invisible line to Vincent. "And you left."  
>"I had to make sure they weren't going to destroy that village again."<br>"Wait," she held up her hands. "You _both_ knew something was going on, and _neither _of you said anything? To _any _of us?"

Cloud's face fell. "Tifa-"

"Two years," she cut him off, pacing the length of the bar. "_Two. Years,_ Cloud. And not _one _fucking word as to what _might've _been happening." Stopping, she cut her eyes between them. "You both left, _knowing _it would tear this group apart. And Yuffie went _right_ back to Wutai- _right_ into danger- and _no_ _one_ tried to stop her."

Vincent shifted silently on his feet. "I did not believe she would return there."

"Where the hell did you _think_ she would go, Vincent?" The barmaid was furious, chewing her lip in an attempt to stave off angry tears. "Wutai was her _home!_"  
>"I called her twice a week, and monitored activity around the village for months after she got there."<br>"And yet she was still kidnapped," she narrowed her eyes. "Or did you plan _that_ too?"  
>"There was nothing in the notes to suggest ShinRa was looking for Yuffie, or anything in Wutai at all for that matter," Cloud interjected calmly. "And she was still living with <em>you<em> when they started the detail."  
>"So this is <em>my <em>fault," she spat. "_I_ shouldn't have let her leave."

"Tifa, that's enough."

Only Nanaki could say something like that to her without repercussion. Tifa was silent, and the beast sighed.

"This has all been very enlightening, but unfortunately none of it is telling us where Rufus might have taken Yuffie." He looked at Vincent. "My only question regarding your decision is why you didn't feel it necessary to share any of this with anyone."

He blinked. "As I said before, I honestly saw no merit to our findings. If you read through the papers it is mostly just a collection of drawings and maps of the city. There were only a few sheets that spoke exclusively of Rebirth, and they read like a fable. I felt it useless to pursue, but the call to Wutai drew my attention away from Cloud's activities."

"And what of that? You found that unimportant as well?"  
>"Security details with the Turks are commonplace. Often it means they are suspicious of someone within the town in regards to the ShinRa Corporation, but because of the Turk's history with Wutai I felt it acceptable to take extra precaution and only raise an alarm if needed."<p>

"Which you did," Barret wrinkled his nose. "Two hours too late."

"I had only a moment's notice when the ambush started to move on the town." He shook his head, raven hair falling over his face. "Sensors I had set up around the parameter in areas I _knew _were private trails for smuggling in and out of the village two years ago were tripped. I'd nearly forgotten I set them in the first place." Frowning at his own failure, he looked at Nanaki. "Still, you are correct. None of this will lead to where they have taken her."

"We should set out to search for her in the morning," Cloud suggested. "The pilot in the Shera can fly overnight to Rocket Town- we can spread out from there and cover more towns, see if anyone's heard anything."

Cid huffed. "You of all people should know if ShinRa's up to something, ain't nobody gonna hear a damn word about it before it happens."  
>"Maybe not," he looked at him, "but people <em>will <em>know if something unusual is happening in their town. Yuffie's never been one to just let the Turks take her anywhere. For all we know she could have already escaped and be trying to find her way back."

"In that case we should go." Tifa pushed away from the table she leaned against, avoiding all eyes as she walked out the door. "This situation is bad enough- the thought of her being out there _alone _is unbearable."

As the door slammed shut behind her, Barret reached over with his hand and smacked Cloud across the back of his head. The swordsman pitched forward, cursing loudly as he narrowly caught his balance.

"What the hell?"  
>"The <em>hell<em> is wrong with you!"  
>Cloud faltered, barely recovering before an empty beer can found its way to his face- courtesy of Cid. "Ow, guys- come on!"<br>"Fuck that." The old pilot stood, shaking his head with a good-natured smirk. "You've got two years of gettin' yer ass kicked to make up for. And you owe it to Tifa to take every hit."

He sighed, not bothering to ask for backup from Nanaki or Vincent as they left.

"This is going to be a long trip, isn't it?"  
>"You damn right it is." Barret wrapped his gun-arm around his shoulders, ruffling his hair as he dragged him awkwardly outside. "When the hell are you gonna learn you just need to stay yo' ass with Tifa instead runnin' around gettin' the shit beat out of you?"<p>

Cloud didn't respond, but Cid laughed behind them as he paused to grind out his filter before following them out.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

"Wake up."

Yuffie's eyes snapped open. She hadn't been asleep, but felt the illusion of unawareness might bring her the upper hand if she let it. Yawning, she looked at the guard who had entered the room to move her. She could take him.

Beside her, Rude stood up. "She just had her eyes closed, she wasn't asleep. Keep your guard up."

Fuck you, Rude.

The SOLDIER nodded his thanks, allowing the Turk to unlock the door and get Yuffie out. As he reached behind her to grab her ropes the ninja held her hands up, revealing once again that she had managed to get them off. Unfortunately that merit didn't go very far- the guard already had his gun pointed on her. Damn, she needed to learn some new tricks- these bastards were getting too familiar with her methods.

"Right this way, Ms. Kisaragi."  
>"<em>'Miss' <em>Kisaragi?" she howled, shooting a look at Rude. "Exactly _how _old are these assholes you've got pushing me around anyway? I hate killing the young ones."

Rude just stared at her, but the guard visibly tensed. Yuffie smirked- this should be fun.

As they made their way down the corridor the sound of the airship's loud engines began to die off, signaling the upcoming landing. The ninja only had to stop twice to settle her gag reflex, making sure she aimed for the guard just in case she failed. When they finally reached the ramp leading down to the exit Rude paused their progress, taking a moment to go into a nearby room and retrieve a small cloak for the prisoner. When she saw it she laughed.

"You _honestly _expect me to wear some smelly-ass cape you jacked from one of your shitty SOLDIERs? Gross-ness!"

Without hesitating the bald assassin tossed the fabric to the floor. If Yuffie hadn't known him any better she might've been taken aback at how easily he threw chivalry out the window…but she knew him pretty well. The bay door creaked open with a terrible howl, and _instantly _she knew why he'd gotten the cloak for her. The freezing air of the Forgotten City swept up to meet the three where they stood, and Yuffie was the only one unprepared.

"Bahamut's _balls_!_"_ she yelped, practically dancing a line to stand behind Rude. "Why the fuck didn't you _tell _me it was cold?"

The man never moved, only giving a slight nod to the guard to take her when the door had finished dropping. Yuffie grumbled, habitually jerking her arm away from the boy's touch as he attempted to lead her down the ramp and into the city. It was a quiet walk.

The moment her feet hit the ground Yuffie's skin began to prickle, but not in the 'Vinnie Valentine' way.

Everything about the Ancient City screamed ruin- from the abandoned buildings to the broken crystals that jutted up everywhere. Even the trees, which only two years ago had glowed in the dim light of the moon, were dark and lonely. To say it made her uneasy was an understatement. As the guard pushed her toward the Capital, Yuffie's gut began to twist. It took everything she had to look away from the lake as they passed by- the serene water calling out to her as every memory of Aeris's funeral came rushing back with crushing clarity. She swallowed hard, cursing herself mentally for the tears she refused to let fall as they stung the corners of her eyes. She may not have known what Rufus was up to, but the single fact that he had to bring her _here _of all places to do it was enough to let her know it wasn't right.

Luckily the guard never seemed to notice her slip- still so formal as he led her down the curved path to a series of run-down houses. She knew this place- well, she knew most of the city anyway, but she actually _knew _this area. These were the houses AVALANCHE had stayed in the night before they left the city. Right after they'd buried Aeris. They really hadn't changed much; the tall, smooth shells were chipped in some places and broken in others, but the bright orange-ish color was still the same.

The guard moved behind her as they neared the entrance to one of the houses. Knowing she was supposed to go inside, Yuffie calmly walked into the shell and looked around.

"…It's a lot quieter than I remember," she murmured, then looked back at the boy. "Well, aren't you gonna inspect the area? I'm weaponless here- if somethin' comes after me, my ass is grass."

The kid looked at her for a second, before gingerly stepping inside with her. Sliding ahead he flipped on the light attached to his gun to shine into the shadowy corners of the wall.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "God I love it when they're dumb."

Before the guard could turn she lifted her arm and brought a strong elbow down against the back of his skull, knocking him out. Leaning over she quickly stripped him off all weapons and ammo, then turned to leave.

"Drop it."

Rude's sunglasses met her wide eyes as she stopped in the doorway. On either side of him stood two guards, every one of them ready with a gun fixed on her. She grumbled, letting the weapon dangle from her hand as she held both out in surrender.

"You've gotten to be _such _a sneaky bastard, you know that?"

When all the contraband had been taken back Rude dismissed the guards to retrieve their comrade before taking her into the house himself.

"This isn't right Rude," she protested, struggling against his vice-like grip on her arm as he dragged her up the stairs. "It's an omen to be in this place and you know it- we shouldn't be here!"

As they reached the bedroom he released her, letting her stumble away from him as he shut the door behind them.

"Strip."

The young woman tilted her head as she regained her footing, knowing what he was getting at but not wanting to give it to him so easily.

"How much cash you got?"  
>"Don't be stupid," his voice was level as he waited patiently for her to obey. Chewing her jaw in irritation for a moment, she finally gave in with a disgusted groan.<br>"Fucking _Turks."_ She unzipped her shirt, jerking it over her shoulders without much resistance and tossing it onto the desk behind her before turning back to Rude, her black bra the only thing covering her chest. "There."  
>"Shorts."<br>"_Shit_ Rude are you _fucking_ kidding me?"  
>"I'm not an idiot, Yuffie."<p>

Rolling her eyes she did away with her short-shorts, letting them stay on the floor as she stepped out of them and toward the man in charge. Leaning in boldly she looked up at him.

"Is this what you want? Or do I need to lose more?"

Not taking her taunting the older man grabbed her arm and spun her around, ignoring her startled gasp as he pushed her to lean on the desktop before he set in on frisking her.

She quirked her lips as he went. "Your hands are cold."  
>"I'm wearing gloves."<br>"You're too close to my crotch."  
>"Just be thankful I'm not Reno."<p>

She couldn't help but snicker at that, settling onto her hands casually as the Turk finished pulling the last of some fifteen blades she had hidden in the lining of her underwear. Tucking them into his jacket-pocket he stepped back.

"Done."  
>"That it?" She twisted around to face him, leaning her backside against the desk. "No cavity search? No happy ending?"<p>

"Fifteen is your number," he replied bluntly. "Always has been."  
>"What if I felt like carrying sixteen this time?"<br>"By Wutai's cultural standard you cannot carry any more or any less. Unless you're breaking ritual, which you're not."

She snorted, crossing her arms. "So what then? You wanna stay and talk?"  
>"I have things to do." Checking his sunglasses, he turned to the door. "A guard will be by to bring you food later- try not to kill him."<br>"Can't make any promises."

He continued to leave, but hesitated as he reached the doorway. "…Yuffie."

The sudden shift in his tone made her uneasy, and she stood still.

"President ShinRa has been very quiet about what he plans to do here, but from what I can tell you _are _expendable after a point. …Don't try to escape."

It was a command, but the way he said it made it sound more like a plea, and she understood. He didn't want her to die any more than she did. Trying to play it off, she began to put her clothes back on. "…See if someone could bring me some hot tea, would ya? My throat's raw from almost throwing up a hundred times."

Rude nodded quietly and shut the door, locking it behind him.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

The Shera was silent as AVALANCHE settled in for the night. After a short discussion on bunking, Cid and Barret retreated to one room, Nanaki and Cloud to another and Tifa to one by herself. Vincent, being one who only slept when he felt like it, opted to be the odd-man-out.

Or so he said.

He waited on the lower deck for nearly an hour; just long enough for everyone to get squared away in their rooms, just long enough for the ship's crew to finish preparations for flight- that's when he moved. He left the hangar quietly, making his way to the chocobo stables without much direction. There was no reason for him to go to Rocket Town- not when he had a pretty good idea as to where ShinRa had taken Yuffie.

As he entered the stable he sighed. (It's been so long since I've seen her, she may not even remember me.)

How wrong he was. As he neared the stable he knew she was kept in, Shalva's familiar coo rang in his ears. The black chocobo was happy to see him.

"Hello old friend," he greeted her softly, holding up a handful of greens he'd swiped from the tack room on his way in as a peace offering. "I'm sorry I've been gone so long. Did you enjoy your rest?"

She cooed again, chewing her treat and nuzzling him lovingly as he patted her neck and stepped over the thin rope between them to join her in the stall. A few more minutes of quiet talking went by before he turned to the wall to retrieve her harness from the equipment rack. It wasn't there. Furrowing his brow he glanced over the wall, then to the ground. Had someone misplaced it? The stable-hands that worked with the chocobos usually carried their own equipment, why would they move his harness?

"Leaving so soon?"

He froze his search, closing his eyes momentarily as he mentally kicked himself for being so naive.

"Tifa-."  
>"I didn't expect you to stay long." She stepped into the dim light from the end of the stable hallway, Shalva's missing harness dangling from her fingertips. "Not after realizing Rufus probably <em>does<em> plan to try and resurrect Aeris."  
>He turned to face her. "Nothing is certain."<br>"But you think it's possible, don't you?" Reaching the stall, she leaned against the wooden railing between them. "Nanaki said if you didn't think it were possible you would say so."  
>"I <em>didn't<em> think it was possible."  
>"But now you do. Because of what the SOLDIER in Wutai said," she offered a slight smile. "You didn't think anyone else would make that connection, did you?"<br>His facial expression didn't change. "Not right away."  
>"I wouldn't have, if I hadn't been looking at you when Cloud brought it up. It was all over your face."<p>

A moment of silence, and he looked at her. "You are angry with me."  
>"No," she shook her head, "but I <em>do <em>wish you and Cloud would start telling us stuff. You guys really aren't so different when it comes to your secrets."

Beneath them, the airship engines began whirring to life. They looked to the floor, then back to each other.

"Why are you going after her?" her voice was soft, as if the question were a secret.  
>He raised an eyebrow. "You would rather I leave her to die?"<br>"You know what I mean, Vincent." Her eyes were gentle as she watched him. "If it were anyone else you would have said something. You would have stayed with the group and saved yourself the trouble of fighting alone."

Another stretch of uneasy quiet, and then the gunslinger turned his attention back to Shalva.

"It is_ because_ of me that ShinRa got to her in the first place. I owe it to her to bring her back."

Tifa stared at him for a moment longer, before stretching out a hand to offer him the harness. He took it from her with a slight nod of thanks, bridling his chocobo and leading her out of the stall to the end of the stable.

"She'll probably be gone by the time you get there, you know," she called after him as he walked away. "The Turks have never been very good at keeping her locked up."

Vincent paused, casting a backwards glance at her. "If the intentions of ShinRa are as mad as we think they are, I feel they may be more careful with her guarding. Besides," he pulled himself onto Shalva's back, turning the bird sideways, "once they reach the Forgotten City, she won't leave on her own. Memories are a vice to Yuffie- she'll be unable to bear them alone."

With a soft click of his tongue he pushed the chocobo into a steady trot, vanishing from Tifa's sight as he rode off the ship and onto the plain toward the Forgotten City.

Tifa sighed, shaking her head.

"Be safe."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Several hours had passed since Rude left her alone in the shell house to brood over her thoughts, and Yuffie had had quite enough.

"He can't honestly expect me to stay here," she muttered, looking carefully at the lock on the bedroom door. "Not when getting out would be so _easy_…"

As she stared at it, the sound of Rude's oddly concerned voice warning her to stay put echoed through her head, until the thought of breaking out was almost scary. She huffed, dropping her hand from the doorknob and turning instead to the old desk against the far wall.

...It had locks on all three drawers.

"Thank _god_," she moaned, slipping her headband off to slide the wiring out of it. "My hands are getting itchy just _looking _at this shit."

She flopped onto the floor, crossing her legs Indian-style beneath her as she set to work on the outdated locks. The first two drawers popped open without much effort, the old locks breaking under her strong hand as she turned the pick inside. The third however... On looking at it she saw it was remarkably new, _brand _new even. Whoever had replaced it wanted to make sure no one saw what was in that drawer…

Unfortunately for that person, they'd made the mistake of putting Yuffie Kisaragi in the same room as said drawer. It took a few seconds longer to jimmy, but gave nonetheless. As the lock slid over with a satisfying pop, Yuffie smiled.

"Try to keep _me _out, will ya? Let's see just what juicy Forgotten City secrets you're hiding in here…"

Pulling the drawer out, she nearly ate her words. A giant navy folder glared out at her, the shining gold label on the front reading boldly in the candlelight: "Rebirth: The Aeris Gainsborough Project."

After spending more than twenty-four hours on an airship that should have made her sick ten times over, Yuffie- finally on land- turned to the trash can beside her bed and threw up.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p> 


	6. Chapter 6: Project

**A/N: Thank you everyone who is R&Ring! Enjoy this update!  
>Disclaimer: Don't own FF7, not making any monies from this.<strong>

**Chapter Six: Project**

"Oh my god…" Yuffie moaned into the wastebasket as her body threatened to wretch again. She had a weak enough stomach as it was; just the _thought_of someone trying to bring Aeris back from the dead was more than too much. Deciding after a few minutes that she couldn't puke anymore the ninja turned over, passing a woeful glance at the drawer she'd just broken open before kicking it shut. What the hell had she gotten herself into? This wasn't a run-of-the-mill ShinRa operation. It was sick.

With her nerves already on edge, the soft, sudden knock at the door was enough to make her jump. She glanced toward it, vaguely remembering she'd asked Rude to send someone up with tea. She grumbled as she rose, stumbling to the door and tapping on it gently to let the sentry know she was there. He cracked it open and handed the cup to her apprehensively.

"Tea?"  
>"Thank you." The manners caught both of them off-guard, but neither said anything. The guard locked the door behind her and she sat quietly on the edge of her dusty bed, staring at the drawer as if she expected it to fly open at any moment.<p>

(This isn't happening.) She thought to herself, forcing the tea down in hopes that it would calm her stomach. (Rufus is one crazy motherfucker, but after _last_ time? Would he _really_risk trying to bring her back…?)

In a flash, she suddenly remembered the black-haired, faceless Aeris she'd encountered on the deck of the airship. She gulped.

(That…that wasn't her. It _couldn't _have been. Aeris would never attack me for one and for two…) her thoughts trailed off as she recalled Rude speaking to Rufus. (He called her 'Vecena.' Surely it's just a coincidence they look…sort of the same.)

As her tea continued to stay down Yuffie's interest began to pique. Her gaze toward the drawer went from one of horror to one of curiosity until, teacup empty, she decided she'd give the folder another go. Setting the china on the bed she slid to her knees on the floor and carefully crawled toward the desk, the odd fear that the drawer was a living thing tickling her superstitious bone something fierce.

"Thing had better not fucking bite me…" She muttered, sitting on her legs as she pulled the drawer back to reveal the shiny folder once more. Swallowing hard, she reached in and picked it up, then stood to set it on the desk. Flipping it open she sucked in a deep breath, re-reading the first line.

_"Rebirth Materia: The Aeris Gainsborough Project."_

(Okay, no puking, just turn the page.)

She did, and the breath she'd taken in left her involuntarily.

On the next page was a picture. A picture of all nine of them. They were in Cosmo Canyon at some sort of festival, sitting around the bonfire. The photo was candid- the only one looking at the camera was Vincent, and he looked none-too-pleased. Red sat beside him, smiling warmly as he listened to Cait Sith tell Barret and Cid a story that they were both laughing at. Beside them sat Tifa- a beautiful smile on her face that no one had seen in _years_as she watched Aeris and Yuffie mess with an unwilling Cloud's hair. The ex-SOLDIER looked irritated, but didn't protest as he sat on the rock with his arms crossed while the Flower Girl happily showed the then 16-year-old how to braid on his long blonde locks.

She vaguely remembered that night, but the more she thought about it the tighter her throat got, and so she opted to flip the page.

The next picture was before her time with the group, but she knew what it was. Aeris was sitting inside a helicopter, hands bound and face bruised as she looked at the camera on her, green eyes full of fear and uncertainty. This was when the Turks had captured her and taken her to the lab- where they met Red. The caption below read:

"Subject taken from her home after plate collapse. Several tests ran after this apprehension revealed that subject is capable of hosting Jenova cells. Tests were not completed due to subject escape with the group AVALANCE (see pg. 1). "

So it was a _theory_. Aeris hadn't actually been experimented on.  
>(Good to know.) The ninja hummed, skimming over the next few pages with mild interest. It wasn't until she was nearly a fourth of the way through the folder that she found another page that caught her eye.<p>

"Yuffie Kisaragi: Current age: 21. Location: Wutai. Subject of interest: High Alert- subject is believed to possess second half of Rebirth Materia."

She startled. (…What?)

"Location of Materia: Unknown. Sources have been unable to locate AVALANCHE's hoard of Materia after the release of Holy and the Lifestream. Subject is to be apprehended and questioned."

Below all of the writing was a picture of her standing outside a store in Rocket Town, making a face at her reflection in one of the shop windows while Cid waved an angry fist at her through the glass. Behind him stood Vincent- once again staring right at the camera.

"Vinnie you fucking weirdo…" She breathed, letting her fingertips trace over the outline of his face for a second before shyly plucking them back. Shaking her head, she looked over the writing on her case and narrowed her eyes.

(Why would they think _I _have the Materia-) As she turned the page she rolled her eyes. (Oh well now that's just profiling.)

Another picture of her in Wutai when she was around 14 years-old, pick pocketing materia from a tourist.

(Nevermind.)

Turning the page again she paused, looking over a sketch someone had drawn of Aeris's Princess Guard. The orbs that were mounted at the top were colored in detail- all nine of them. She recognized them particularly because she carried one- the green one. Each member of the group had been given one after she died, and the last orb- a pretty pink one- was left on the staff and placed with the Flower Girl when she was buried.

Below the picture, the caption read.

"Ancient Materia seen on this weapon have yet to be found, save the orb in the center. It is assumed the members of AVALANCHE have hidden them somewhere, considering upon exhumation of the Subject's body the only orb left on the staff was the Heart of Jenova; the first half of REBIRTH. In order to achieve full Rebirth, the orb second from the left must also be present, the Spirit of Jenova."

Yuffie read over the caption several times, catching a couple of things- the word 'exhumed,' and the fact that the 'Spirit Materia' they were looking for was the one _she_carried…in a hidden compartment on her Conformer. Rude had her weapon. It took a matter of seconds for the severity of the situation to sink in.

No more time for games. She had to get out of here and she had to do it now.

Flipping the folder shut she turned for the door, swiping her wire off the desk to jimmy the lock but stopping halfway there to look back. Biting her lip she rushed back to the file, flipping the cover open just long enough to rip the Cosmo Canyon picture from the page and tuck it in her pocket before slapping the folder shut again and dropping it in the drawer.

Two minutes later the lock was picked and she was heading down the hallway to find a window to climb out of and get the hell up out of the Forgotten City.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

For the fourth time in the last fifteen minutes, Vincent hit the 'ignore' button on his cell phone.

He would have loved to just throw the damn thing away altogether, but the distant thought that Yuffie might somehow reach a device and contact him kept him from any actual destruction to the obnoxious piece of technology. He wanted to be ready.

That is, if the line wasn't busy with Cloud _calling him._The text that followed was so generic it made him chuckle. Yes, chuckle.

"Answer your phone. We need to talk."

Poor Cloud, he must be squirming out of his skin right now. Having been going after this theory of someone trying to resurrect Aeris for _years_ only to find out it might actually be true? He would liken it to the feeling a dog might get upon actually _catching _a car. Vincent could understand why he would want the entire team together. But the fact of the matter was- even if Vincent were there, the entire team still wouldn't be together. Hence the gunslinger leaving on his own accord.

Shalva had made good time across the water, reaching Bone Village just as the sun began to rise over the mountains. It wouldn't be long now.

Deciding it would be best for Shalva's safety if she _didn't _go to the Capital with him; Vincent left her in the Village, paying a stable a hefty sum of gil and a mastered All materia to watch after her until he got back. Taking little time to gear up on supplies and ammo, it wasn't long before Vincent was out of the village and entering the forest on foot.

He vaguely remembered this place; with its whimsy trees and the perpetual fog that added to its mystery. Not to mention it was quiet- always quiet...too quiet. So much so that inside of him, Chaos stirred.

_"These occurrences won't stop until ShinRa has been torn apart piece by piece."  
><em>"That is not for us to decide." He replied quietly._  
>"You would rather keep on playing damage control? After all they've done to us?"<br>_"That's enough, demon."_  
>"You won't think that when you get to the Capital and find that girl hanging upside-down above a pool of her own blood-"<em>

"I said that's _enough!"_ Vincent yelled into the trees, his angry tone scaring away several birds as Chaos smugly went into submission. Pausing to regain himself, the gunslinger ran a gloved hand over his face before looking about. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since he walked in, shouldn't he be _out_ of the woods by now?

Then it occurred to him. "Ah...the illusion."

Glancing around, he saw the crystals that were the forest's key to exit floating about- yet another strange, magical trait of the area he never quite understood. Walking over to one, he went to grab it only for it to disappear at the last second. He looked into his empty hand, then across the worn path where the gem had reappeared. He tried again, same result. This went on for about five minutes until Vincent paused in the road to contemplate a better plan.

He wasn't too far into his thinking when he was interrupted by a loud moan.

"This is just _saaaad._"

Death Penalty was out, chambered and steady as he turned and pointed it at the figure dangling sideways on strings from one of the trees.

"Whoa, hey now!" Reno held up his hands and kicked his legs helplessly. "You wouldn't shoot a man while he's tied up and vulnerable would ya?"

Vincent scoffed. "Why should I believe you are vulnerable?"  
>"Because I'm hanging from a fucking tree by my <em>parachute<em>, dumbass."

He stared at him for second before drawing his weapon back, then turned to walk away.

"H-Hey!" The Turk sputtered pitifully. "If you get me down I can help you get out of here!"  
>"I don't need your help."<br>"Wha-? Dude, I've been watchin' you run around aimlessly for the last half hour! You need a second set of hands for this, trust me!"

Vincent paused, looking back at him. "A Turk and anything to do with 'trust' should never be in the same sentence."

Reno snorted. "One. To. Talk."

"Why are you in that tree?"

"I vacation here." He nerd-laughed at his own joke before looking angry. "Your stupid ninja friend pushed me off the fucking airship. I was in for a perfect landing until..." He trailed off as his rage for the forest came back and he thrashed about the ropes uselessly. "Fuckin' _trees_!"

Vincent couldn't help but smile. So, Yuffie _had _gotten away.

"Where is she?"

Reno paused to give him a confused look. "What?"

"Yuffie. Where is she?"

"Fuck if I know, man. I never saw her jump the ship. I thought I heard some yelling on my way down but that was about it."

His face fell. "She did not escape then."

"Rufus's really got this one locked down tight, Valentine. Security detail's been _quadrupled_. He didn't even tell _us _what he's up to. Plus he hired on some monster-looking babe named Vecena to front everything. Pretty hot, if you can get past the no-face thing. She's kinda built like that Aeris chick too."

The ex-Turk felt his skin freeze over. Turning away from Reno again he started back toward the crystals with a new vigor, ignoring the red-head's pleas for help as he flitted about the trees, becoming desperate in his attempts to get out of the Ancient Forest. His temper began to flare after another five minutes, and he dared to consider bringing Chaos out to burn the entire place down when Reno's strangled voice caught his ear.

"I'll help you find her!"

Stopping, Vincent turned to him slowly, approaching him with a serious face.

"I will," he went on, grinning sheepishly. "Just get me down from here."  
>"I know where the Forgotten City is."<br>"As ironic as that is, you'll still need help getting in. Rufus had Vecena put up some kind of magic shield to block outsiders from finding the place."  
>"And <em>you <em>know the counter spell?"

"_I _know the password." He smirked, full-on cocky attitude coming back into play as he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "But you'll need to get me down to get it."

Vincent drew his weapon again, and Reno rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, threats won't work. _You _know what kind of training we're put through to resist torture and besides..._you_ need _me _to get out of here."

They looked at one another for a while, stares unwavering as they both thought on the next step in their journey- one neither of them really wanted to take. Working together.

"After we escape here; if you run, I _will_ shoot you."

"Yeah, yeah, yea-" he was cut short when the gunslinger suddenly took aim and fired, severing the ropes holding him up and sending him tumbling to the ground. A loud string of curses and he was on his feet in seconds, dusting himself off and messing with his hair.

Vincent pushed past him toward the trail. "Let's go."  
>"Hey, you got any cigarettes? I would kill someone's dog right now for-"<br>"Be quiet Reno."  
>"Right."<p>

It was going to be a long day.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

"Un-fucking-believable."

Cloud snapped his cell phone shut as the shrill, pre-recorded voicemail message Yuffie had done for Vincent's phone last summer sounded out yet again. Twenty in the last hour; that's how many times he'd heard it. Ridiculous.

He paced about the new 7th Heaven angrily, biting his lip and fussing with his belts as Tifa watched calmly from behind the bar. They'd only been in Rocket Town for fifteen minutes when Cloud first realized something was up. No one had seen the gunslinger all night and while this wasn't an unusual occurrence, something about it felt off. When the group had finished unloading from the ship and Nanaki reported Reeve was sending Cait Sith out to meet them, the leader began asking around about Vincent until finally, Tifa confessed that he'd left.

"Why would you just let him go?" He turned to her suddenly, but she didn't flinch.  
>"He said he wanted to find her. That he owed it to her." She shrugged casually. "It isn't like I could have stopped him anyway, and you know that."<br>"You couldn't have woken me up? Let me know he was leaving?"  
>"Oh like the way <em>you <em>let me know _you _were leaving?"

"Don't make this about us, Tifa." His voice was stern, like a parent talking to their child. "You know now I had every right to leave like I did."  
>"You had a <em>reason, <em>not a right." She crossed her arms. "And you _didn't_ have to go like you did."

Cloud breathed deeply, looking at her as she clicked her tongue and averted her gaze.

"He knows we'll be right behind him," she said softly. "And I have every bit of faith that if any one of us could single-handedly get Yuffie out of there it's him."

They were quiet a bit longer, Cloud having nothing else to say until finally the door opened and Nanaki walked in, a very familiar funny-voiced cat demon sitting atop his back.

"Staring and awkward silence? You two haven't changed a bit! Come on then, the both of you, we've got a Princess to rescue!"  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

**A/N: Also, a special thank you to FairDrea, who has been beta-ing for me! Love you lady!  
><strong>


	7. Chapter 7: Hologram

**A/N: Please R&R!  
>Disclaimer: Don't own it, not making any money.<strong>

**Chapter Seven: Hologram**

Yuffie moved with a purpose.

Her heart was pounding in her ears. What if they'd already found the materia? What if they knew she'd escaped? They could be on the airship already, just waiting for her to come after her weapon...

Then again, what if they'd moved Conformer altogether?

Screw it. She couldn't think of another place to begin looking, so she would at least _start_ with the airship.

Getting past the guards outside was easy. Crawling beside the ramps that led in and waiting for the bumbling sentries to turn away felt like it took an hour, but that was one thing ShinRa guards were always good for- being bad at their job. As soon as she was inside the ship she moved with ease. Forget the tight walls and winding hallways, as far as anyone was concerned Yuffie was still locked up tight in her shell-house and the rest of the action was happening around the lake, so virtually no one was on board.

Reaching the storage room, she pulled her picking wire to start in on the deadbolt, but was surprised when she found it unlocked. In retrospect it should have been a sign, but she was in a hurry.

Conformer dangled from a hook against the far wall, sharp blades glinting in the dull light of the closet as if it were happy to see her. Yuffie pulled it from the rack and untied one of the commemorative ribbons from its handle to reveal the small compartment that hid the Spirit materia. Sliding it open, she breathed a sigh of relief as the jewel sparkled up to greet her.

She couldn't risk leaving it there anymore, not when she knew what Rufus was planning to do with it. Tucking the orb into a hidden pocket on the inside of her shirt, the ninja retied the ribbon to her weapon and strapped it to her side. Time to go.

She left the closet, wound her way back down the corridors, and slipped past the guards one more time before trotting down to the road that led out of the city. Going off trail to walk behind the trees, she was so sure she'd made it out unscathed...

Of course, that just wasn't her luck.

"Very impressive."

It was only the second time she'd heard the voice, but the body that went with it had left a lasting first impression. Yuffie stopped walking, unable bring herself to turn around.

"You broke out of your cell, snuck past the guards twice _and _managed to get your weapon back- all without a fight."  
>She swallowed hard. "You're not going to knock me out again are you?"<br>"Not if you come quietly."

The ninja shut her eyes as she turned to face the monster, forcing an air of calm when she opened them again.

"There there, Princess." Vecena's tone was mocking, and if she had a mouth Yuffie was certain she'd be smirking. "Is it really so bad?"  
>"Why do you look like Aeris?" Her voice shook involuntarily, and the woman laughed.<br>"What do you mean, my dear? I _am_ Aeris."  
>"<em>Fuck <em>you," she spat, fear melting into disgust.

"Hm." The doppelganger tossed her hair. "Fine, I'm not. But I _do_ hear she's here. Would you like to see her?"  
>"You're sick."<br>Chuckling, Vecena crossed her arms. "Where is the Spirit materia?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Yuffie lied, keeping a perfectly straight face.

Vecena seemed to stare at her for a moment, trying to read her.

"I think you _do,_ considering the desk with the project file in it was broken into..." She slowly began to walk toward her, turning her head down as if to look into her eyes. "The question is...do you know where the materia _is_?"

Yuffie didn't move- she couldn't. The longer Vecena held her gaze the more paralyzed she felt until the creature was practically breathing down her neck. Raising a hand, Vecena gently touched the ninja's face, before letting it trail down the length of her body.

This was it. There was no way she _wasn't_ about to find the materia.

But for the first time in the last few days, favor smiled on the Princess as Vecena moved past the hidden pocket and down to her shorts. In one swift motion she reached forward and ripped out the picture Yuffie had stolen from the file.

She looked at it, then to the girl.

"They cannot help you this time. None of them, not even him."

The fact she even thought to mention Vinnie as a source of hope startled her, but it wasn't without merit.

"He'll come for me." Her expression hardened as she dared to look Vecena in her nonexistent eyes. "And when he does, you'll be up for missing a lot more than your face."

The monster hesitated, before grabbing her arm and pushing her out to the road to start back to the city, shoving her to walk.

"Move. If you try anything stupid I'll cut off your hands. You don't need them for this experiment," she snarled.

Yuffie rolled her eyes and kept going. "What about the materia? Don't you need that?"

"We'll improvise. For now I'm just going to lock you somewhere you _won't _escape from."

They continued on in silence. Fifteen minutes later they re-entered the city, where Rufus was waiting at the edge of the lake, surprisingly calm considering it was the third time she'd almost escaped.

"So glad you could make it back, Princess." He paused to nod at the woman. "Vecena."

She regarded him before grabbing Yuffie's arm again and pulling her to walk around the lake.

"I'm taking her to the cell."  
>His eyes lit up. "You have the materia?"<br>"No, but she can stay there until we do."

Rufus quirked his lips, staring at the young woman before deciding he agreed.

"Good idea. I think she'll enjoy the company."

It wasn't what he said so much as the way he said it that made Yuffie's insides turn. As they walked away from the President he followed their path with a smile, one that told her she wasn't going to like what was about to happen at all.

As they made their way around the lake, a sadness swelled within Yuffie. Several men in scuba gear surfaced every few minutes with crates of things they'd scraped from the bottom. What they were doing wasn't right. What if they found Aeris's body down there? The idea was enough to piss her stomach off again, and she decided looking away was the only safe option.

Eventually, Vecena stopped on the far side of the pool. Before them stood a large white tent-one Yuffie was vaguely familiar with. ShinRa always used these when they were excavating Ancient artifacts. They held special decontamination rooms inside just in case Geostigma was detected on anything.

"Welcome to your new room."

Yuffie snorted. "You shouldn't have."

Vecena pulled the flap back and shoved the girl in. The inside seemed endless as they made their way through tables of boxes that had been brought up from the bottom. Several minutes of walking and turning her head to keep from visualizing the Flower Girl had Yuffie's nerves on edge until at last they reached the back wall.

Stepping into the hallway, a sudden feeling of disassociation overwhelmed her senses as she found herself surrounded by nothing but white. Vecena was oddly her only ground to reality as she moved forward and located a line in the wall that only she could see.

"Here is where you will stay. Don't try to get out-you'll just wind up hurting yourself...and her."

Yuffie didn't have time to ask questions before a strong arm wrapped around her and pulled her forward, throwing open the wall and pushing her through it. She tumbled inside, tripping over her feet and hitting the ground with a loud thud that was instantly absorbed by the white floor. She looked back just in time to see Vecena disappear behind the door again, but didn't race to catch it. Something else had caught her attention.

Turning her head slowly, she found the only non-white objects in the room were the shiny silver legs of an exam table, rising up beside her until they disappeared into the flat surface they held. Above that was a sheet.

A long, white, plastic sheet. Yuffie couldn't see through it, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what was underneath.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

"I didn't ask you what he paid. I asked you _where he went."_

The stable hand shrugged indifferently as Cloud ran a hand down his face, patience wearing thin as the search for Vincent/Yuffie had dead-ended at the Bone Village.

Tifa appeared beside him, gently touching his shoulder as she nodded to the boy, dismissing him.

"Cloud it's OK. We already know _where _they are. We just need to get through the forest-"  
>"But that's just <em>part<em> of it." He leaned forward onto the bar in front of him, rubbing his temples. "Cid said that from the Shera you can't even _see _the City. Like it just...disappeared."

"That's just dumb." Barret chimed in on his other side, waving the bartender down casually. "Cities don't just disappear."

"I beg your pardon?"

The three turned to look at Cait Sith sitting on a nearby chair, his tiny cat body nearly the same size as the cushion beneath him. Catching his reference, they all swallowed awkwardly and turned back to the bar.

"...what I _meant _to say was...Rufus wouldn't _run _to the city and then _destroy_ it." He passed a hesitant glance to Cait, who gave an approving nod.

"Wouldn't he have left before he obliterated it?" Tifa offered.

"Either way, I think the villagers would have noticed a huge-ass City being demolished." Cid joined the conversation as he sat down beside Barret, taking the man's drink before he even noticed it was there. Barret caught the trespass and huffed, then waved for another one.

"Cid's right." Cloud sat up, turning on the barstool to face the gathering team. "I mean you can see the city from here, even _if _they'd destroyed it overnight _someone_ would have seen it going down."

"Maybe it hasn't gone anywhere." Nanaki finally joined the crowd, striding in and settling on a chair beside Cait Sith before continuing. "It's very possible it remains exactly where we believe it to be."

There was a pause as everyone stared at him blankly, and then Tifa snapped her fingers.

"A shield."  
>"They're camouflaging the city," Cloud agreed. "That's the most believable idea yet."<p>

Barret sipped his drink. "If that's the case, how do we get in? Walk through it?"  
>"No." Cait Sith shook his head, fussing with his crown. "If Rufus ShinRa put up a shield he did it right- something password protected."<p>

The group groaned. As if their job wasn't hard enough- nearly every encounter they'd ever had with ShinRa included a point where they had to run around like idiots trying to solve some fucking _puzzle _just to go up a flight of stairs.

"I'm not dressing up like a woman again," Cloud blurted out, shrinking back when everyone looked at him. "...Just thought I'd get that out of the way."

"And _I _ain't puttin' on no goddamn sailor suit," Barrett grumbled.  
>Tifa giggled. "But you looked so cute!"<p>

Being the only woman present, she could get away with it. The rest of AVALANCHE just stifled their laughter.

"Regardless of what we're all willing or not willing to do," Nanaki spoke up. "We need to think of a plan for when we get to the city. How we'll get in."

As if the heavens were answering the suggestion, the doors to the tavern opened and in walked two SOLDIERs, work-weary and looking for a drink as they sat at the bar. The bartender recognized them, and set about fixing their usual.

Without a word the team sprung into action, and the sentries didn't even notice when their friendly barman was replaced by a barmaid.

"Long day guys?"

"Eh, you know how it is Earl," one of them answered. "The Prez spends all day bustin our balls and then retreats to his cozy suite on the airship. The rest of us've gotta walk ten miles just to get a damn drink."

The other SOLDIER tapped his friend on the arm suddenly, and they both looked up to face Tifa as she set their drinks down in front of them. Being who she was, they recognized her immediately.

"You're not Earl," the first said softly.

"No." She shook her head, leaning onto the bar with a smirk. Seeing the deviousness in her eyes they simultaneously turned to get up and leave, but were met by the remaining six of AVALANCHE. "...and you two aren't going anywhere."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Vincent and Reno walked along quietly.

"So what's up with the cape? Can you like, fly or something?"

…By quietly I mean Vincent didn't talk and Reno never shut up.

"It would be really cool if you could fly. But then again if you could fly you probably wouldn't have had to go through the Ancient Forest and then you never would have found _me-_"  
>"Reno," he interrupted, expression unchanging. "That noise is coming out of your mouth again. You should see to it."<p>

The Turk paused for a second, before catching the insult. "Ahhhh ha, ha, ha. _Very_ funny Valentine. I didn't know you were a comedian _as well_as a freak."

Still, nothing. Words were just words to the gunslinger, and he had no use for them as they continued on toward the shield, which- if his memory served him right- should have been coming right up.

"We're almost there," Reno confirmed his calculations, jogging a few feet ahead to survey the seemingly empty landscape. "Just a few more minutes should do it. We'll see a big rock on the side of the road.

Vincent hummed. He could see the rock from where they were. Thank god.

"So what's up with you and Yuffie, man? Are you two together or something?"

For the first time since he had met Reno, Vincent was startled.  
>…Naturally, he didn't let on.<p>

"Of course not."  
>"Yeah, I get it." The ginger stretched his arms out and crossed them lazily behind his head as they walked. "She was pretty tight-lipped about it too, but <em>I<em>know." He snort-laughed, shooting a smirk at him. "Chicks these days, right? Always tryin' to deny shit when it's all over their face!" He stopped again to laugh at his unintended joke. "You know those shit-faced chicks!"

Had he been a normal twenty-something-year-old, Vincent might have at least cracked a smile. But they'd been walking for _hours_ and for all he knew Yuffie could be tied up being tortured right now or worse- she could be dying by the hands of Rufus ShinRa; that was a_ beyond_sobering thought that didn't make him feel up for joking around.

"We're here."

Reno scoffed. Coming to a stop beside the rock he'd pointed out earlier the twosome looked ahead at the empty, altogether normal-looking scenery. He rolled his eyes, leaning on the stone.

"Well, whaddya want, Valentine? A magic show?"  
>"I want to find Yuffie," he deadpanned, patience waning.<br>"Tell me I'm wrong then." The Turk crossed his arms. "Tell me _honestly_ you ain't got _nothin' _going on with that Wutai girl and I'll raise the shield."

The fact that he continued to press the subject was irritating. What was it about the dynamic of the gunslinger and the ninja that made everyone just assume they were out for each other? Vincent had never said a word, made a move…hell; he'd never even _looked_at her long enough to give someone the wrong impression. So what was it that kept raising the question?

Then he remembered earlier. Apparently Yuffie had said- or _not_ said- something to trigger Reno's curiosity, but he didn't know what exactly. And being _her_, he couldn't even begin to guess what she might have confessed.

_That_ was a story all its own. Vincent _never_ had any idea what Yuffie was thinking. She was the only one in the entire group of AVALANCHE that had changed so drastically since he'd met them that he wasn't always one-step-ahead of what she did. At first he'd attributed it to her being so young; the changes must have been coming with her transition into adulthood... But then he realized Nanaki was more-or-less the same age, and Vincent _never_had trouble reading him. That could have been a species difference though. Still, the Princess had always stood out in terms of her ability to grow and adapt to a situation. It baffled him.

To put it blatantly, Yuffie was a class all her own. Sure, there had been times before when he'd admired her for the woman she was becoming- but a _relationship_? She was much, _much_ too  
>young and besides, no one like her would ever consider a monster like him.<p>

"There is nothing going on between myself and Yuffie, Reno," he answered finally, gaze level as he caught the Turk's disappointed frown. "Please open the shield."

Reno shirked, face contorting in his own personal disgust as he resolved to open the barrier. Turning back to the rock he leaned forward, sliding up a small panel near the bottom and typing in a series of numbers before shutting it again and facing the landscape, which instantly began to falter. A large door-shaped section quivered in front of them, and then finally gave way to the real scene beyond. As soon as they stepped through, the door sealed up behind them- but Vincent didn't mind. He was occupied with the view of the City before them- much more dark and dreary than the hologram had displayed it. It was…familiar.

"Let's go." He moved ahead, knowing where he was now. "We're not far."  
>"I know that!" Reno crowed as he followed after, long legs suddenly slow compared to the speed the gunslinger moved at.<p>

As they neared the hill leading down into the Capital, Vincent slowed his pace. The security had indeed been quadrupled, as was evidenced by the clustering of guards in different places. It was late afternoon and most of them had been on duty all day. They were bored and getting lazy.

"So much for extra protection," Reno grumbled as he stopped beside him, looking down on the SOLDIERs with contempt. "You could probably waltz through there and none of them would notice."

It was true, but Vincent didn't comment. Instead he stood and began his decent to the City.

Reno startled. "Whoa- Valentine- I wasn't serious!"  
>"We need to get down there," he replied calmly. "They have had her for over 24-hours. Who knows what all they've done?"<br>"I don't think they're going to _kill _her, yo. Would you calm dow-"

Vincent turned suddenly, eyes boring into him. "Rufus ShinRa has gone through the trouble of hiring extra staff, bringing in a specialist and putting up some sort of _shield_ to hide what he's doing. Do you honestly expect me to believe he _isn't _up to something that might involve putting Yuffie in danger?"

Reno gulped. "…Fine," then added as Vincent turned to walk away, "but we should at least check the airship first! That's where we usually keep her when we take her places. You know how she loves those holding cells."

The only response he got was a slight exhale. Pouting, he followed the red-caped madman down into the City. After slipping past the guards with barely an effort, the two wound their way to the holding cell they were both familiar with.

…Only to find it empty.

"Ah, not here?" The Turk called out as Vincent stepped closer, looking around the floor for clues. "Bummer."

"She shouldn't be far." Vincent shook his head as he finished making sure there weren't any picks or weapons of Yuffie's lying about. "If they needed her here for an experiment they should be holding her nearby."

"Yeah, you're probably right. We should go."

The cadence in his voice was off- and Vincent knew that shift in aura. Drawing Death Penalty he turned, not surprised when he found Reno's EMR in his face.

"You should put your gun away and step back into the cage," he said with a smirk, obviously pleased with himself for having gotten this far. "I would hate to haveta shock your ass."

Vincent only blinked, before reaching up with his clawed hand to rip the weapon from the red-head's grasp. Tossing it to the side, he continued to hold his weapon steady, nodding to the cell.

"Get in."  
>Reno balked, glancing at his empty hands. "Wha…?"<br>But he didn't get an answer. Moving around Vincent shoved him into the cell and shut the door behind him, locking it. As he walked away to leave the ship Reno yelled after him.

"Hey! You can't just leave me here, yo! You _need me!_ If Rufus finds out you're here he'll kill her for sure Valentine, do you hear me? _You'll get her killed!"_

Vincent walked off the airship and started toward the shell-houses the group had stayed in the night after Aeris's death. There were several SOLDIERs standing around that area- he hoped that meant she was being held somewhere near them. Weapon drawn and down by his side, he was ready to confront the mass of sentries when out in front of him strode a slender, well-built, long-dark haired woman whom- at a glance- could have easily been mistaken for Aeris.  
>That is, if this woman had a face.<p>

Having seen much worse in his time, Vincent barely regarded her as she stopped and looked him over, tilting her head.

"You _did _come for her."

That grabbed his attention. Slowing his pace, he stopped beside her- but before he could ask, another person- someone who actually had a face to be familiar with- appeared behind her.

"Vincent, so good to see you again."

The ex-Turk only spared him a glance, sensing the real threat was right in front of him.

"Rufus."  
>"I suppose you've come for the girl. You won't find her."<p>

Vincent narrowed his eyes, absently checking his weapon which hung loosely in his hands.

"That's a bit of an unfair assumption, don't you think? Shouldn't I at least get to _try_ first?"  
>The President chuckled. "If you must, by all means, look away- that is, if you can manage to find her without a head." Turning away from them he started down the hill toward the lake. "Vecena, I'm starting the experiment early."<br>The woman turned her head slightly. "But the materia-"  
>"We can at least complete the first half now. Perhaps seeing the Ancient suffering will jog the Princess's memory as to where the Spirit orb is. Until then, handle this, would you?"<p>

Vecena nodded, turning back to the man in front of her. Vincent took battle stance.

"Who are you?"  
>"I'm the reason she's here," she replied, reaching to her belt to draw out a small metal cylinder. Flicking it to the side, it extended out into a full-length staff. "And there's no way I'm letting <em>you<em>get in the way of what I need her for."


	8. Chapter 8: Ghosts

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews! :) Please keep them coming! Enjoy this chapter, R&R!  
>Disclaimer: Don't own FF7...or any of the other ones, for that matter. :D Making no moolah off of this.<strong>

**Chapter Eight: Ghosts**

Yuffie stood up slowly, blood draining from her face as she stared at the sheet.

They didn't. They wouldn't. They _couldn't._ This was some sort of prank to get back at her for trying to escape and any minute now Rude would walk in to take her back to the shell house.

"They didn't…" She breathed out loud, trying to let her own voice calm herself. "They _wouldn't_…"

It wasn't helping. She had to do something- a_nything-_to relieve the fear that what was under the cover had nothing to do with the dead Ancient.

She had to look.

Moving forward, the ninja reached a shaking hand out to touch the sheet- gradually pinching the corner and then, finally, shutting her eyes and peeling it up. When she felt it was high enough she turned her head stiffly and cracked an eye.

There she was. Aeris. Still semi-perfectly preserved in her dress and holding her Princess Guard.

A short, shrill yelp was all Yuffie could manage as she dropped the tarp and staggered back, catching herself against the corner of the far wall. Covering her mouth, she found she was past the point of throwing up- past screaming, crying- All she felt was numbness in every part of her body. Shaking her head, she wrapped her arms around herself and leaned onto the wall.

"This isn't real…" She breathed. "This…this can't be happening."

"Oh, but it is." The sound of Rufus's voice drew her gaze to the large picture window that had begun to slide open across the wall on the other side of the room. "But don't worry, Princess. Soon enough you'll be reunited with your friend. That is, if you can tell me where the Spirit materia is."

It took her a moment to process what he was saying, then she shook her head. "That lady already grilled me about this. I don't know what you're talking about."

Rufus laughed. "This is something you've never been good at with me, child: Lying. You see Yuffie, ever since you were young you've _loved_ materia. When you joined AVALANCHE, it was initially for the sole purpose of _stealing_ all of their materia. When the group broke up the first time, you and Cloud _fought_ because he wouldn't let you keep the materia and _now_…well, since your little group split up _again_ and you went _home_…we know you've been making midnight trips to your daddy's dojo just to play with your old toys."

"So I have some of my old materia, what of it?" She was getting irritated with only partially knowing what he was playing at.

"'What of it,' my poor, ignorant girl, is that this entire time you've been hiding an object more valuable than all the materia on the Planet combined. But when we raided your city we couldn't find it in your house, and when we first took _you _it wasn't in your weapon or on your armor. So…where is it?"

"How do you know _I_ have it?" She shot. "Everyone else has materia too."  
>"Ah, yes. But this particular piece was green- your favorite color."<p>

_That _was just ridiculous.

"Your grounds for _kidnapping_ me are based on my _favorite color?__"_ She walked up to the glass, crossing her arms. "Are you fucking _joking_?"  
>"We may or may not have other reasons for choosing you." His mocking voice turned ice-cold in a heartbeat. "But it doesn't matter. We know you have it- now <em>where. Is. It<em>_?__"_  
>"I said I don't know!"<p>

Rufus let out a soft 'hmph' before walking to the side of the window, reaching out of her sight then returning with a bright pink orb in hand. It was the Heart materia.

"Let's try this again. You read the file, yes? Then you know that this is what we call JENOVA: Heart Materia. When used correctly, this has the ability to resurrect the one who was holding it when they died. The catch is- it has to be paired with the Spirit materia in order to work all the way, otherwise the raised party will be nothing but a soulless corpse, do you understand?"

She did understand. She understood in the worst way.

"So in short, either tell me where the Spirit materia is, or watch your friend come back as a mindless zombie. Your choice."

Yuffie blinked. What motive could he _possibly _have for resurrecting Aeris?

Unfortunately at that moment it didn't matter; it was obvious he was very serious about what he was saying because he didn't give her five seconds to answer. When she continued to gape at him, he raised the orb and began muttering against it. She watched, waiting for him to admit bullshit and drop the act, but once again he surprised her with the truth when the table behind her began to rattle.

She spun around, every bit of forgotten terror rushing back as the sheet covering her old friend moved, and a hand dropped down to hang from beneath it, the white and blotchy skin slithering as it regenerated and turned pink.

Yuffie screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>Vincent and Vecena faced off...no pun intended.<p>

"Where are your friends?" she asked. "Still lost in the Forest?"  
>"They'll be here soon enough," he assured her, careful to keep his guard up.<br>"I'm sure. Though I still find it fascinating that the great Vincent Valentine keeps company with such buffoons."  
>"Better than keeping company with men of Evil."<br>She snorted. "Your perception of my relationship with President ShinRa is terribly misconstrued."

"Correct it then. Because from where I stand it certainly appears that you're working for him."  
>"This is a view you both share." She brushed her hair back with her free hand. "Though I'll let <em>you<em> be the first to know that it is in fact _him_ who is working for _me._"

As serious as the situation was, the ex-Turk couldn't help but be intrigued. Seeing the glint of curiosity in his eyes, Vecena went on.

"To summarize it- _he_ is the reason I came into existence. What he doesn't realize is that to me, he is nothing but pawn. One that I will be rid of as soon as I have what I need."  
>"And what of Yuffie? What is her part in all of this?"<br>"Ah, the Princess." She gave a short laugh. "She has a much bigger role in all of this than she realizes."  
>"If this is about the materia-"<br>"The materia is only the beginning," she cut him off coldly. "Her part in my existence will be _so_ much more than the _President _knows..."

Suddenly, a shrill scream came from the tent sitting on the other side of the lake. Vincent's calm demeanor failed as he stood upright.

"Yuffie-"  
>Taking advantage of his vulnerability, Vecena pulled her staff back and raised a hand.<br>"And much more than _you'll _ever find out!"

Stepping forward, she threw a Fire spell into his chest, sending him flying. He landed hard, losing his breath for a moment before forcing himself back to his feet. Deflecting the second spell she tossed his way with his metal arm he slid backwards across the ground, keeping his balance as he counterattacked with one of his more powerful Bolt spells.

She staggered, regaining her senses a moment later and shaking off the electricity before squaring her shoulders as she turned her staff down.

"I am indestructible, Vincent. You cannot kill me."  
>He gave a brief, disbelieving exhale. "You aren't the first villain I've fought to say something like that."<p>

She charged at him, swinging. Ducking under her rod he twisted up, firing off a round into her armor and watching long enough to see her hit the ground. Turning, he took off for the tents, Yuffie's screams stirring the blood in his veins.

He hadn't gotten far when Vecena's voice called after him.

"Chaos!"

The reaction was instant. It was as if a sledgehammer hit him in the chest- his knees buckled and he crashed to the ground, the monster inside of him roaring to life.

_"Vecena!"  
><em>"Silence, demon!" He choked out, clutching at his armor as he struggled to breathe.

"You haven't learned to fully control him, have you?" The woman walked toward him, driving the fiend within him wilder with every step. "I can sense his power pulsing within you. He recognizes me, doesn't he?"

Vincent's ability to speak was lost. What was she doing to him? This new...phenomenon... was beyond anything he'd dealt with concerning the demon he'd carried for so long. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep him inside...

"You know what I like about you, Vincent?" Vecena stopped beside him, leaning forward and softening her voice. "Out of everyone I've met since I've been here, you are the only one who hasn't called me a monster." She laughed. "I guess people like us have to stick together, hm?"

Chaos shrieked, and Vincent gripped his skull. He couldn't hold him. He was going to change and kill everything in the City- _including _Yuffie...

"Hey!"

Vecena jerked upright, releasing her leash on Chaos as she spun to face Tifa Lockhart. The shorter woman's fist connected with her jaw as she slid past, ground shredding up beneath her feet as she moved with a fluid power only _she _had perfected. The monster flew back several feet, and the martial artist stepped between her and the gunslinger, shaking out her hand as she glanced back at her friend.

"You OK?"

He drew in a few deep breaths, nodding. The sound of Yuffie screaming again caught both of their attention.

"Go." Cloud appeared beside them, sword drawn as he readied himself for a fight. "We've got this."

Vincent paused, looking up at the two for a moment before nodding. Tifa nodded back, then turned to the villain, who had finally struggled to her feet.

"You're too late, Vincent," she called to him, breathless. "It's already started."  
>Standing up, he holstered Death Penalty and ran for the tent.<p>

"We'll see about that."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

She was coming back.

Yuffie couldn't control the shrieking that continued to rip from her throat as she climbed the wall, eyes never leaving the reviving corpse in front of her.

On the other side of the window, Rufus cackled.

"Just tell me where the materia is and this will all stop!"

But she wasn't listening. Everything around her was just noise as Aeris's body sat upright on the table, the sheet falling away to reveal her face. It was vacant at first; then the same slithering motion came over it and her eyes reformed in their sockets before coming into focus. She looked around aimlessly, hands drawing up to her head as the flesh finished coming together on her neck and chest. Her clothes remained decomposed and tattered, the patches of her ribs underneath visible as the skin regenerated over the bone.

Oddly enough, it wasn't until she began to moan that Yuffie found it in herself to get a grip. She stopped screaming long enough to look at her old friend, unsure of what to do.

...Until the Flower Girl snapped her gaze to stare at her.

"She's just like the monsters you see on the plains," Rufus crowed insanely, his laugh distantly reminding her of Hojo. "She has no recollection of who you are, Yuffie...and she surely won't be showing you any mercy."

Yuffie stiffened, holding her hands out as Aeris began to slide her way to the edge of the slab, moving toward her.

"Aeris...please...if you can hear me- don't do this..."

But the thing didn't relent. Pulling the sheet the rest of the way off, she revealed her bare feet- boots long gone in the lake- and carefully set them on the white floor, pushing herself to stand.

The ninja couldn't handle it anymore. She had to do something. Reaching into her shirt she located the hidden pocket and pulled the Spirit materia free, not sure what she was supposed to do with it but praying it would help the situation.

The moment it was out in front of her Rufus screamed, "_You have it!"_

Although it had been the reason for taking her captive in the first place, this was apparently _not _what he had wanted to happen, because he instantly began banging on the window, grabbing random solid objects to try and break the glass. Yuffie looked to him, then to Aeris, who continued to sluggishly stagger toward her.

"Please," she whispered, white-knuckling the orb in her hands as her heart threatened to pound out of her chest. "Do something."

Suddenly the materia responded, humming to life in her palm. A soft green glow emanated from the center of it, before enveloping her hand and trailing up her arm to surround her body. Yuffie gasped, a strange feeling of peace washing over her as she stared at the woman in front of her, who had stopped walking and was watching her blankly.

Though she was calm, Yuffie was still confused. "...Aeris?"

The light that covered her began to swell out further, taking in the Ancient where she stood. For a few moments the woman continued to gape distantly at the ninja, until finally a light flickered to life in her eyes. As the awareness grew, the light waned until eventually it retreated into both women, leaving them standing awkwardly in the empty white room.

Yuffie stared at Aeris, hand hesitantly playing over Conformer as she waited for the revived Ancient to make another move, to say something, to do _anything_.

And then, Aeris looked at her.

"...Yuffie?"

The ninja let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, dropping her battle stance.

"Aeris...?"

But the moment of relief was short-lived. The Flower Girl looked at her friend, before raising her hands up in front of her face and looking them over. The shock of her situation must have hit her like a freight train, because she began to wail and sank to the ground, wrapping her arms around herself.

"_Oh my god!_"

Yuffie panicked. What the hell was happening? Aeris had always been the most collected one out of all of them. Why was she freaking out like this? Then it occurred to her- Aeris had been dead for some six years now, and suddenly she was alive again.

Hell, as far as Yuffie was concerned she was handling it pretty damn well.

"Aeris..." Her voice softened as she rushed forward, tucking the Spirit materia into her pocket as she crouched in front of her friend and took her into her arms, aiming to gently hold her- but Aeris was in such a state of panic she practically death-gripped the younger woman as she shook with sobs.

She'd nearly forgotten about Rufus when the psychopath finally broke the glass between them, chair in hand as he stood on the desk of the observation room with a look of complete rage on his face. It seemed he hadn't been paying attention to the goings on in the white room, because the moment he saw the two women in the floor he froze, obviously baffled by the sudden existence of the Ancient once again.

"No..."

Yuffie only watched him. Sure, she was ready to kick his ass if he tried to come after them, but the fact that Aeris was alive and shaking in her arms kind of trumped her need for revenge as she waited to see how much of her fighting skill was required.

As it turned out, the answer was- none of it.

The invisible door to the white room burst open, and both women looked up to see a blur of red and black. A spray of bullets rained the observation room, and Rufus was quick to disappear below the window and make his escape as Vincent stabilized in front of them, looking down over his shoulder at the two.

For as long as she'd known him, Yuffie had only ever seen Vincent look shocked twice. The first time being when they found Lucretia's soul hanging about some cave- the second time was when they'd faced off with Hojo and he confessed to all of the experiments he'd done.

This particular instance would count as the third.

Even then the gunslinger only paused for a moment, before holstering his weapon and turning to face them. Yuffie continued to hold Aeris, pressing her cheek into the woman's face as she gazed up at Vincent, a mix of relief and happiness flooding her body.

"Sweet mother of god," Cid's voice broke the silence as he entered though the demolished doorway, startling when he caught sight of Aeris and stopping just long enough to strap Venus Gospel to his back before moving to kneel beside them.

"I got her, kid. Come on," he coaxed, slipping one strong arm under Aeris's knees as he gently brushed her hair out of her face. "Up we go, sugar. Hold on."

The Ancient let go of Yuffie and muttered Cid's name, wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifted her off the ground and turned for the door.

"Cloud and the others ran off that crazy no-face bitch," he told Vincent as he stepped out of the room. "Get the kid and let's get the hell out of here before she comes back."

He disappeared down the hallway, leaving the ninja and the gunslinger alone in the cell. Yuffie was still crouched on the ground, staring up at Vincent as he watched the empty doorway. After a few seconds he looked down at her again, seeing her wide eyes.

"Are you alright?"  
>She blinked, then nodded quickly, standing up.<p>

He turned to lead the way out. "We need to hurry-"  
>"Vinnie."<p>

Looking back at her, he saw her eyes had begun glassing over.

"I...I feel..."

He caught her as her legs buckled and she collapsed into his arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
><strong>AN: So...I'm getting an itch to write some one-shot Reno smut. Anyone feel up for reading that? Just wondering... ;D**


	9. Chapter 9: Concern

**A/N: Ahhh, things are starting to get interesting, aren't they? You'll have to review and let me know what you think! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 and am not making any money offa this ficcage.**

**Chapter Nine: Concern**

"This is insane."

Cid looked up from biting his nails to snort at Cait Sith as he stared at him from across the long table of the airship conference room.

"Nice call, dipshit. I wasn't sure until now- but you sure as hell cleared it up for me. This really_ is _insane."

"Guys," Barret interrupted the potential dispute from the doorway as he leaned against its frame. "This ain't no time for that."

The pilot and the cat looked at him, then each other, before turning their gazes to the surface separating them.

"I just don't get it," Cid grumbled. "I mean, it wasn't like we didn't _try_ to figure out a way to bring her back after Sephiroth...you know." He dragged a thumb across his throat in silent explanation. "And Cloud was still lookin' for answers _way_ after the rest of us threw in the towel to reality...but _now._" Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his grey/blonde hair. "This just blows my fuckin' mind."

"I think it's safe to say we've all been thrown by this." Nanaki was easily missed as he lay in the corner, normally proper posture forgotten as post-battle exhaustion had set in and the only thing keeping his eyes open were thoughts of the resurrected Ancient. "And from Aeris's reaction and Yuffie's shock neither of them really saw it coming either."

Across the room Barret stepped to the side as Vincent entered, usual stoic expression fast on his features as he took a seat near the end of the table.

Cid looked at him. "How's she doin'?"

"Still asleep," he replied, knowing he was referring to Yuffie. "I recommend this meeting be brief- she shouldn't be alone when she wakes."

"Hell, I'll go sit with her now." The old captain rose, pulling a cigarette from his goggles and lighting it as he walked for the door. "Red already told me what we're here for. Just come give me the verdict when yer done so I can tell my men where to go."

Blowing smoke off to the side, he slid past Barret and into the hallway, casting a backward glance at the gun-armed man. "You mind?"  
>"I'll come see ya when we're ready."<br>"Thanks."

He disappeared around the corner, leaving the rest of the group to question Vincent.

"I don't suppose she said anything to you about what happened?" Cait asked, crossing his arms.  
>"The only complete sentence she said to me before fainting was my name." He tapped his clawed fingers on the table, leaning sideways in his chair. "And when we came back to the ship Aeris was still crying, so I know Cid didn't get much out of <em>her<em>."

"Jeez..." Barret muttered from the door. "I can't fucking believe she's back..."

"It seems she feels the same way," Nanaki sighed. "And I'm sure she'll be in shock for quite some time."

They were quiet for a moment, before the sound of Cloud's booted feet stomping through the doorway caught their attention. They all looked at him. He paused awkwardly, seeing their gazes on him, before running a hand through his hair and sitting down.

"Cid said we were meeting here...?"

There was a pause. He wasn't answering the question they all were silently asking.

"You talked to her yet?" The old mercenary finally voiced it as he walked to stand beside his chair, arms crossed.

Cloud started to look up at him, before exhaling and averting his gaze nervously.

"No, I haven't." He messed with the buckles on his shirt. "I don't...I don't think that would be good for her right now...me being the last..." He hesitated, "the last person she saw...you know."

"She saw you two years ago," Vincent pointed out.  
>"She was on the other side then," he shot back, obviously having thought the situation through already. "Things were different then, she was...she was in a better place- she was with Zack."<p>

After a moment, Cait cleared his throat. "I think he would want you to look after her."  
>"I think he would want <em>us <em>to look after her," the ex-SOLDIER corrected, folding his hands as he stared at the cat.

The rest of the men in the room sighed, seeing there would be no reasoning with Cloud Strife on _this_airship ride. Then again, none of them could blame him.

"Weren't we supposed to be talking about something?"

"We want to go to Cosmo Canyon." Shaking his mane, Nanaki rose from the floor and moved to one of the chairs, glancing at everyone with his good eye. "Cid and I discussed it earlier and decided that it would be a safe refuge for the women to recover in, not to mention an easy place for the Shera to dock."

"So what's the holdup then?" The blonde raised his eyebrows. "Let's go."  
>"We wanted to wait for you," Barret's voice lowered as Cloud looked up at him. "...You know."<p>

Cloud furrowed his eyebrows, obviously lost.

"The group is whole again," Vincent explained, uninformed of the shift in dynamic but completely aware of it. "And we're at war once more with the Greater Darkness. You have to lead."

The younger man stared at him, mouth slightly ajar as he considered the obligation. After a moment he let out a breath, nodding as he rose.

"Fine- It's fine. Let's go."

Knowing it would be pointless to comment, the team slowly left the room one by one until finally the only two left were Cloud and Vincent. The ex-Turk stood and walked past the leader, pausing in the doorway to look back at him.

"It wasn't your fault."

Cloud continued to stare at the tabletop, fingertips pressed hard against its surface.

"...You know, two years ago I would have agreed with that. I would have _believed _it. But now-" He turned to face him, expression lost. "She came back to a body still wearing the clothes she was _murdered_ in, Vincent. She's covered in her _own blood-_ there are marks from _his_ sword in the back and the front of her dress...how can she look at that and _not_ remember the last thing she saw? The last thing she saw..." He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to shut out the memory but failing miserably. "...Was _me_...staring at her like the lost little boy I was." He looked to him again, shaking his head. "I can't look at her. I don't think I can handle seeing her and remembering that fucking look of _hope_in her eyes again...the same look she gave me right before she died."

Although he was certain the result was unintentional, Vincent couldn't help but immediately think of Yuffie- eyes wide as she looked at him in the white room of ShinRa's excavation tent. She had been scared, but the second their eyes had met in that moment of uncertainty she'd looked relieved. She'd looked...happy.

"We all hold hope in things that have sway over us," he answered softly, completely understanding the weight of his own words. "Things that we feel _safe_ with. In turn, we cannot help the choice of those who decide _we_ sway _them. _We can only protect them to the best of our abilities and pray we do not fail."

They looked at each other for a moment-Vincent gave a nod.

"You didn't fail then. You won't now."

Cloud remained silent as he left the room.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Aeris stared at the floor of the shower stall.

She was quiet as she watched the water swirl around the drain, years of slime and dirt disappearing through the metal catch as she gently squeezed her revitalized chestnut locks to loosen the grime.

No one had said a word to her yet- save Cid, who had been so kind as to carry her out of the cell she was in when she suddenly lost her newly regained ability to walk. Even then the most that came out of his mouth was an 'up we go, sugar. Hold on.' It was sweet, and had been just what she needed at that point in time, but now...

Now, she had no _clue _what she needed.

She'd been dropped off in the Captain's suite by Nanaki, who had silently shown her the towels before making a speedy exit. There were no words for her emotions. She knew _they_ were freaked out by her sudden reappearance to the land of the living, but think of how _she_ felt. Five years dead- technically centuries to her, having had _no_ concept of time in the afterlife- and suddenly she was back, and in her 22-year-old body nonetheless. Not to mention her _clothes_...

She looked at her bare body as the water trickled down her chest. The Heart and Spirit materia had done good to restore her to her old self, but they sure as hell didn't spare any expense when it came to making certain she remembered _how _she'd died. A bright red slit of scar tissue shimmered on her stomach in the dull light of the bathroom, with a similar one to match it on her back. She touched it gingerly, eyes narrowing painfully as the flashback sound of Sephiroth's sword tearing through her rang in her ears.

_"Cloud...?" Her voice was distant to herself as her hands numbed and her mouth went dry._

_The noise of Masamune's tip clicking against the marble surface of the altar drew her attention to the ground, and it was only then that she realized what had happened. That the sword had gone through her._

_She looked back up at Cloud, seeing pure horror in his eyes as her vision began to darken, the sound of Yuffie's mortified scream echoing in her head as she slumped forward..._

"Aeris?"

The Flower Girl jumped, knocking a bottle of shampoo from the shelf with a small yelp as the sound of someone's voice came through the blurred-glass door to interrupt her morbid reminiscing.

"Oh, sorry...I didn't mean to scare you." It was Tifa. "Are you OK?"  
>"Yes." She said the word slowly, her voice still sounding so strange in her own ears as she picked up the fallen bottle and put it back. "...I'm fine, thank you."<p>

There was a short pause before Tifa cleared her throat. "...It's okay if you're scared, Aeris."

There it was. The first inkling of a normal personality. It was how she remembered the younger woman- always kind, concerned, caring about everyone else before herself. It wasn't ever like Aeris to be the one who was terrified of what was happening around them, but this would definitely qualify as an exception to the realm of normal.

She drew in a deep breath. "...I honestly don't know what's going on. I feel...I feel like I'm dreaming. Like I'm going to wake up any minute and be back where I was, talking with Zack, walking the Lifestream. I don't feel normal. I don't feel...OK."

The water suddenly went cold, and she was quick to turn it off. Chewing her bottom lip, she leaned against the concrete wall and wrapped her arms around herself, realizing she'd forgotten to drape a towel over the shower door.

"Tifa, would you mind-"  
>"Already got it." She held up the purple plush cloth so the Ancient caught sight of it. Cracking the door Aeris looked out at the brunette, their eyes meeting in a moment of strange calm.<p>

"...It's good to see you again," she said with a quiet sincerity that prompted the other woman to smile.  
>"I feel the same way..." she laughed a little, "I'll admit I'm still in shock-"<br>"So am I."

They both chuckled, Tifa holding the towel open as Aeris stepped out of the shower and into the cover. The younger woman handed the corners to her as she wrapped them around herself, the two looking at one another for a moment before suddenly moving into a sisterly embrace.

"I can't believe you're actually here." Tifa whispered, emotion welling inside of her as she squeezed the Ancient tight.  
>"I can't either," Aeris agreed, hugging her back. "I can't even begin to explain how I feel right now..."<p>

They held each other for a minute before pulling apart. Tifa brushed her hair behind her ear as she stepped to the side and looked to the bed where some newer clothes were laid out for her friend.

"I went to the storage room and found this outfit in one of the crates. I'm pretty sure it will fit you."

Aeris looked it over. A salmon-pink and white halter-strapped top with a light pink ruffled skirt and a pair of brown boots. Somehow it was familiar to her, but she knew she'd never worn it before.

"Thank you," she said, moving to pick up the skirt and admire it. "It's perfect."

"I'm not sure what the plans for the rest of the night are." Tifa turned away as the Ancient finished drying off and began changing into her new outfit. "But I'm pretty sure we'll be on the ship long enough for you to take a nap, if you need one."

"Thanks...but I think I'm alright." She finished zipping up the skirt and sat on the bed to slip on her boots. "I know it sounds weird, but I feel pretty well-rested."

Tifa turned to face her as she stood back up, smoothing her clothes down and holding her arms out as she waited for approval. The barmaid smiled and gave a nod.

"It makes perfect sense. You wanna go check on Yuffie then?"  
>The Ancient smiled back, nodding as she stepped forward and hooked arms with her old friend, the two striding out of the Captain's sweet and into the corridor to walk to the sick ward.<br>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cid sat beside Yuffie's narrow bed in the infirmary, humming softly to himself as he calmly rolled an unlit cigarette between his fingers.

He'd been sitting in the room for seventeen minutes now. The only reason he was so painfully aware of this was because that's how long it had been since his last smoke had gone out. Although no one was around to monitor his behavior, the pilot couldn't help but feel a sense of obligation to the passed-out ninja brat lying helpless on the cot beside him to keep the secondhand smoke down to a minimum, seeing how she didn't have a choice in the matter as to what she inhaled. So stare at the beckoning cylinder he did, distantly occupying his subconscious with old Rocket Town space program anthems as he did so.

It wasn't until he'd finished the sixth rendition of "My Spaceship 'Tis of Thee" that he noticed Yuffie's hand had begun to twitch. Tucking the smoke behind his ear he leaned forward, elbows digging into his knees as he stared hard at the girl and waited to see if she moved again.

She did.

"Yuffie," he said softly, as if he were trying to tell her a secret- the secret being that she needed to wake the hell up so he could smoke. "Yuffie...!"

After a few more seconds of gently calling her name, he reached over and gave her fingertips a soft tap.

"Yuffi-"  
>"<em>Ahhhhh!" <em>The ninja bolted upright, eyes almost as wide as her mouth as she let out one of the loudest shrieks the old man had ever heard. He jumped up, chair toppling sideways to the ground while he waved his hands in front of her and tried to get her attention.

"Fucking-Knights-of-the-Round-up-the-ass-with-_Ifrit's-dick!"_

She retaliated, springing up to stand on the bed and flailing about, barely missing Cid's face as she swung her arms around aimlessly.

"Mother-_fucking_ no face _cunt_ I'll fucking _give_ you something to bitch about other than the fact you have no _fucking __face!__!"_

It took them both a moment to calm down, coming around about the same time as they stared at one another awkwardly, before Yuffie leaned against the wall stiffly, still standing on the cot.

"...Cid."  
>He blinked, crossing his arms. "...Yuffie."<p>

At that moment, the door swung open and in came Tifa and Aeris. The ninja took one look at the Flower Girl- who was smiling warmly at her- before her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell forward- Cid catching her at the last possible moment.

Aeris winced and Tifa quirked her lips, shrugging.

"I think she's happy to see you."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Cloud leaned over the porcelain basin, pressing two palm-fulls of water into his face as he struggled to gain a grip over himself. Vincent's words echoed in his head, the entire gist of it boiling down to "protect her." How was he supposed to protect her? He'd failed altogether the first time. He couldn't possibly expect her to trust him. Then again, he'd only seen her in passing to begin with, and even then she'd been crying so uncontrollably that he'd decided to just get the hell out of the way and stay there until things calmed down.

Basically, they had yet to speak to one another.

(I have no place in her new life,) he told himself bitterly, taking the dry towel from its hanger on the side of the vanity and wiping his face. (Once she remembers everything that happened she won't want anything to do with me. It's better this way...)

A soft knock at the door snapped him out of his pity-party and he looked up to see Barret, leaning through the frame to look at him.

"Hey."  
>"Hey," he replied, standing upright. "Everything OK?"<br>"That's up to you," he stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. "You doin' alright?"

Having known Barret for quite some time, he caught the innuendo instantly. "...I'll be fine."  
>"But you're not right now," he concluded, crossing his monstrous arms over his sculpted chest and looking down at him. "It ain't like anyone <em>expects<em>you to be cool right now, man."

"But you expect me to_ lead,_" the mercenary faced him, tilting his head. "You're all just waiting for me to pick up where we left off two years ago like I have no limitations-."  
>"Because that's what you <em>do<em>, Cloud." The gunman shook his head. "You're meant to lead, regardless of what anyone tells you to do. You _do_ what you _do._" After a moment he shrugged. "So do it, yeah?"

Cloud clenched his jaw, turning his head. "Aeris..."  
>"She'll be fine. Tifa'll be fine. They'll all be fine. Get it? As bad as it seems, what we're dealin' with is a lot bigger than what happened today- considering Aeris comin' back was a byproduct of it. So suck it up, take it like a man, an' get ready for the real deal."<p>

The ex-SOLDIER was used to this sort of 'pep talk' from the old AVALANCHE veteran, and he appreciated it even when it irritated him.

"...Got it."

The man nodded. Overhead, the speakers buzzed to life.

"Attention all passengers and crew. We will be landing in Cosmo Canyon in five minutes. I repeat. Arrival time to Cosmo Canyon is five minutes. That is all."

As the voice echoed away, the two looked at one another, and Cloud drew in a deep breath.

"Let's go figure out just what the hell is going on."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

**A/N: So the Reno smut might be turning into Cid smut instead. I'm sorry. It's what's happening. I'll let you know how it's coming along as I go. XD**


	10. Chapter 10: Quiet

**A/N: Yay! Chapter Ten! Also- yes. Aeris's dress in the fic is the one she wears in Kingdom Hearts II. This is why it's "familiar" to her.  
>Disclaimer: I don't own FF, and am not making any money off this fic.<br>**  
><strong><br>Chapter Ten: Quiet  
><strong>  
>Yuffie woke up ten minutes after the Shera landed at Cosmo Canyon.<p>

It had been a rude awakening, to say in the least. Upon round two of opening her eyes and finding Aeris alive again, Yuffie had somehow managed to stave off passing out a second time... only to compensate for it by puking all over the infirmary floor. Once she was finished with _that__, _however, she was alright- _comfortable_ even.

Of course, that could have been mostly attributed to the tranquilizer Tifa stuck in her ass while she was hanging head-first over the side of the bed, but hey- you can't have everything.

After she'd mellowed out a bit, the two older women set about making a fuss over all of the bruises and burn marks the ninja had picked up on her stint in captivity. Stripping her down, they pushed for an explanation behind every scratch to the point that Yuffie actually got annoyed. Seriously, she'd been held prisoner by Rufus and the Turks for _three_ _days._ It would have been weird if she _hadn't _come out of it looking like someone had pushed her down a flight of stairs, right?

When they were eventually satisfied with her recollection of battle wounds, Yuffie was left alone to shower and get dressed. The hot water felt good on her parched skin, but she was soon faced with the cold reality that in their haste to come save her, no one had thought to pack the Princess a change of clothes (not that she was complaining), so she was forced to re-don the sweaty, smelly outfit she'd been stuck in for going on four days. It sucked, but on the upside her hair didn't feel like grease anymore and she could always borrow something from one of the village girls down in the Canyon.

Surprisingly, getting off the ship was something Yuffie was in _no_ hurry to do. It was nearly two in the morning by the time they'd reached the city, and it would be little while longer before the crew had fully docked the Shera's hangar to the Observatory's port (Red and Cid had designed and built this feature shortly after AVALANCHE killed Sephiroth the _first_ time, mainly because the group had gotten tired of having to walk from the plains through the canyon just to get to the city). Even when the airmen finally started unloading supplies, Yuffie was content to just stand on the lower deck and watch the city below.

Despite the the late hour, many of the village Elders had come out and were walking around the Eternal Flame, setting up a few small tables of food for their honored guests. It wasn't light enough to see the delicacies, but Yuffie could smell them from the landing. Drawing a deep breath in, she dared to follow her watering mouth over the rail just a tad to get a better whiff of everything...

"It seems we won't have to wait 'til morning for a hot meal after all," Nanaki's voice in the shadows _almost_ made her jump, but with the effects of the tranquilizer still smooth in her veins, the ninja only turned her head.

"It was nice of them to get up to feed us," she replied, twisting to face him and settling back onto the rail with folded arms.

"They would have considered it dishonorable not to." He looked at the village longingly, triggering in her the feeling that something was up. Nanaki _never_ piddled around when it came to stopping off in his hometown, especially not to just _chat_.

"Is everything OK Red?" She asked softly. "You seem a little...unenthusiastic."

"Oh, well-." He shook his mane, and Yuffie dared to feel insulted at his surprise toward her intuition. "I just...wanted to make sure _you _were alright. You _were _gone quite a while, and you're covered in bruises-."

"Tifa and Aeris already grilled me about that," she cut him off, voice dull. "Please just ask them if you want to know about the in-between-blackout beatings."

"Actually, I wanted to know about something else."

Ah, there it was.

"I was hoping I would get a chance to talk with you about things you might have heard when you were _un-_conscious."

Yuffie stared at him. Had it been any other member of AVALANCHE she would have laughed in their face and said 'nice try,' but this was Red. He was deep- the 'talks with spirits and nature and the Planet' kind of deep. She knew not only that he was completely serious, but it was probably well within his realm of capabilities to do just what he was suggesting.

"What are you wanting to know?" She practically whispered. As much as she trusted the beast, something about having her mind tapped made her feel...uneasy.

"Just general things they may have talked about if they thought you weren't awake to hear it." He sat on his hindquarters, fiery tail flitting about his feet casually as if this were a normal, everyday request. "Future plans. Why they did this. That sort of thing."

"Isn't there some other route you can take to get info?" She tried to reason her way out. "Tifa told me Cait Sith found a bunch of files they were keeping on the project. I only read a little of the one they had in my holding room, but I'd be glad to tell you about _that_-."

"Yuffie..." he cut her off and she inhaled sharply, knowing her argument wasn't a good one. He could sense there was a reason she didn't want him traipsing around in her head. "...I won't make you tell me anything you aren't ready to talk about."

She exhaled slowly, brushing the hair out of her face as she nodded. "...When would you want to do it?"

"Later. Preferably after we've had a meeting about what we're going to do in the morning."

Yuffie snorted. _Meetings. _Those were something about the group she hadn't missed at _all._

"Fine, just... don't let me start running my mouth, okay?"

"I'm afraid that's exactly what I want you to do."

"You know what I mean, Red." She gave him a look. "No walking me down some weird, suppressed-memory lane."

"I'll do what I can," he replied with a smile before leaving her to go back to her village-gazing game. As she looked toward the fire, she saw Barret and Cid had already made it down and were making quick work of the food on the tables.

"Damnit," she muttered, jerking upright. "Those pigs are going to finish off everything before I even get the chance to see what it is!"

"We've been docked for nearly twenty minutes- you should have left sooner."

Yuffie's eyebrows shot up as she spun to face the new intruder, gasping when she met a solid chest. Stumbling back, she barely caught herself on the thin piping that separated her from a very, very long drop into the Canyon.

"Sleipnir's _cock, _Vinnie!" She pressed one hand to her stomach while the other white-knuckled the rail. "Fucking make a _noise _next time you walk up behind me, would ya?"

He let out a short breath, and Yuffie knew he was silently laughing at her. Her cheeks caught fire- thank god for the dark.

"I noticed you were still on the ship, which is strange for you- what with your airsickness. I came to see if you're alright."

He'd noticed her _behavior _pattern?

(Pull it together, idiot.) She tried to think through the goose bumps that had begun spreading over her skin. (_Everyone_ knows you're an Airship Asshole.)

"I...I'm f-fine." She cursed her stammering tongue. "Just trying to get my head straight."

He didn't reply for a moment and Yuffie had to force her gaze to the floor to keep from squirming under _his_. What the hell was wrong with her?

"I thought you would like to know that the pilot will be shutting down the engine soon." Although he was speaking to her like someone who cared, his voice wielded no emotion. "It will get much darker than it is now, and I'm not certain you'll be able to see the bridge leading off the ship."

Basically what he was saying was, 'you need to leave now or your clumsy ass will probably fall off the hangar trying to walk to the port in the dark.'

"Thanks," she muttered, steadying herself. "I guess... I guess we should go."

He hummed, then turned and walked away. She tried to wait- to put _some_ distance between them- but the second he disappeared into the ship, the deck lights shut off. Yuffie yelped, running after him.

"Vinnie, you night-vision-having bastard, wait for me!"  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

"You _sure _missed out on some good grub down there, cat."

Cait Sith look at Cid with a dull expression.

"Yes, well, seeing how I'm a _robot _it would seem putting things in my body would not only be wasteful, but detrimental to my function."

The pilot rolled his eyes as he kicked back in the chair he sat in, crossing his arms behind his head.

"You said you had some files you wanted to go through?"  
>"I was hoping Cloud would be present as well."<p>

"Ah," he waved a hand, "he's too busy trying not to scream 'I told you so' at everyone right now. Just run things over with me first so we can hit all the important parts later with everyone else."

Cait huffed, climbing up onto the table between them to push apart the small stack of papers he'd gathered before their speedy exit from the Forgotten City.

"There were a lot of pictures," he began. "Candid, mostly. It seems whoever started this project followed us for a long time."  
>"'Whoever'?" Cid echoed incredulously. "I think it's pretty obvious <em>Rufus <em>had this whole thing mapped out from the start."  
>"Mapped out, maybe. From the start, no." The cat disagreed as he pulled a photo from the disarray and held it up for the captain to see. "He wasn't the original brain behind the operation."<p>

Cid dropped his feet back down to the floor, leaning in to get a better look at what Cait was showing him. After a moment he screwed his lips to the side disapprovingly.

"Well, shit."

It was a picture of Aeris and Zack sitting on the tailgate of an old pickup truck just outside of the Sector Five church. She was holding a bouquet of flowers and laughing at something he was saying. They looked incredibly young.

"Aeris can't be older than 16 or 17 in this." The robot turned the picture to look at it, shaking his head. "Rufus wasn't even finished with military school then, and his father was still alive... Sephiroth hadn't even gone _nuts _yet."

"So no one on the Planet even knew what the Princess Guard _was_."  
>"Well, maybe." Cait set the photograph down and shuffled through a few more papers, sighing. "The Ancients kept fairly detailed records of artifacts they collected and blessed. A lot of these documents were actually gathered and kept on file <em>by<em>the ShinRa corporation shortly after JENOVA was discovered."

"Well, in any case we know it_ started_ with ShinRa." Cid shrugged, sitting back. "But they had access to a _lot_ of things, right? Who would have bothered looking into _weapons_?"

Cait Sith hummed indecisively, before something caught his eye. Noticing the pause, Cid tilted his head.

"What?"  
>"The papers documenting weaponry of the Ancient Temple were only written some thirty years ago, but they weren't written there, or in Midgar."<p>

The pilot looked at him, then to the paper as it was slid his way. Picking it up, he scanned it briefly before arching an eyebrow.

"Icicle Inn?" He murmured, confused. "When did ShinRa ever have a setup..-." He trailed off as the realization hit him. "Oh, right. Gast and Ifalna."  
>"It says here that Ifalna was the one who talked about the weapons. The Princess Guard was the least written about, but...look-."<p>

Cait handed over another sheet- the chronicle that listed all of the Ancient Temple weapons. Once Cid took it the robot reached over and pointed at the tiniest box on the page- just above the bottom- where the words "Princess Guard" were penned in a very feminine hand.

"-Ifalna must have written it herself, probably being careful how she worded it."  
>"If she even knew about it," Cid grumbled. "All it says is it's a weapon only capable of being used by an Ancient. The Materia paired with it are meant to guard its wielder and the Ancient Princess." Tossing it back to the table, he looked at the cat. "I don't get it."<br>"I don't either. I've never heard of an 'Ancient Princess'. Aeris never mentioned it."  
>"Maybe she <em>is<em> the Ancient Princess."  
>"Could be, but that seems like something she would have known about."<br>"I seriously doubt she would remember if Ifalna ever _did _say anything. She was just a kid then."

The two fell quiet, both completely lost as they stared at the mess of information between them, neither really knowing what to do with it. Leaning to rest his arms on the table, Cid reached down and plucked another photograph from the 'Ancient Weapons' stack. After looking over it for a second he snorted.

"Well, _this _ain't all that surprising."

Flipping it over, he revealed a picture of Hojo standing in front of the ShinRa Mansion with President ShinRa, a very young Rufus, Professors Gast and Crescent, and the Turks Veld, Tseng and Vincent.

Cait wrinkled his nose. "This was _before_ Gast left and met Ifalna. It wouldn't have had anything to do with the Princess Guard."  
>"Read the caption."<p>

Snatching the photo, he turned it over and read the note aloud. "The team assembles to begin research on JENOVA's connection with the Cetra. The book that was uncovered at last month's excavation site outside of Nibelheim- the purpose of the team's construction- can be seen in Professor Crescent's hands." He looked at the woman as she proudly held an old, weather-worn book that read 'The Cetra Legacy: JENOVA Materia.' "_JENOVA _Materia...?"

"This must've been why they spent so much time thinking JENOVA _was_ a Cetra." Cid scratched his chin, looking down at the table again. "All this bullshit..."  
>"But what does it mean?" Cait's expression soured. "There's a connection here, but I just can't see it."<p>

"That's why we need to talk to everyone else." The pilot stood suddenly, shuffling the sheets back into haphazard stacks as he scooped them up. "We ain't gonna solve this little gem of a riddle on our own, Cat, but we sure as hell got a head start. That's pretty damn good enough for me."

Cait Sith took one last look at the picture in his hands, before tossing it onto a nearby pile with an exasperated breath.

"I suppose you're right. We'll be able to think better with everyone else involved." He picked up the bundle beside him, pausing for a moment to chuckle. "You know, I find it amusing to think that underneath all of the hair and red cloth, Vincent still looks like the young man in this photo."

Cid chortled as he grabbed the last stack of files and led the way out. "Yeah, it's funny as hell- but don't ever say that to _him. '_Less yer just itchin' to have your creepy little robot parts rearranged."

The two laughed as they left the small bedroom to head for the Observatory.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Cloud sighed inwardly as he pulled the door to his small bedroom shut behind him, starting down the hallway without much aim as he finished checking the messages on his cell.

Nothing. Not a single call or text from anyone.

It wasn't really all that surprising, considering the people he would normally be texting or expecting calls from were all_ with _him right now, but force of habit drove him to check anyway. Snapping it shut, he barely looked up in time to stop himself from running into the woman who had just rounded the corner to walk down the hall.

"Whoa-." They both trailed off when their gazes met. Cloud could only gawk as Aeris stammered to apologize for almost running into him.  
>"I...I didn't see you-."<br>"It's cool," he assured her quickly, pulling at his belts nervously as he tried to look anywhere but _at_ her. He failed miserably. "I see you, um...you found a dress."  
>"Oh, yeah." She looked down at her new clothes, holding the ruffled skirt away from her to glance over it. "Tifa found it in the storage room."<br>"That was nice of her. It's good she found it."  
>"Yeah, I'm glad." She nodded. "My old dress was kind of...gross."<p>

They paused awkwardly. Of _course_ her old dress was gross- she'd been _killed_ and _buried_ at the bottom of a _lake_in it. Good grief. How far were they going to keep kidding themselves like this?

"I'm glad you're..." Cloud hesitated as he realized the next words out of his mouth could _not_be 'feeling better' or 'awake.' "...Not crying anymore."

Oh dear god. That was the next worst thing.

"Thank you." Aeris. Always so polite and soft-spoken; but at this point even _she_ couldn't play off the epic fail this conversation was becoming. "I'm...glad too."

After a minute of verbal impasse, they finally managed to settle their fidgeting down to him resting his hands on his hips and her twisting her fingers behind her back. A few more seconds of weird silence went by before Aeris gathered enough courage to look at the leader. Once Cloud noticed her eyes on him, he looked back.

"...Cool." Sweet mother- how _old_ was he? This was worse than the first time they met!  
>Clearing her throat, the Ancient glanced down the hall. "I was just...trying to get to the Observatory. Were you going?"<br>"Yeah. Do you remember how to get there?"  
>"No," she admitted, and they both laughed like idiots even though it wasn't really that funny.<br>"Well," Cloud started, shuffling to slide past her. "I guess I could show you..."

"Hey!"  
>The awkward pair nearly fell over at the sound of Barret's voice coming from the sitting room at the end of the hallway. Looking at him, it wasn't that surprising to find him staring at them like they were morons.<p>

"The hell's wrong with you fools? You forget where the Observatory is?"  
>"Yes," they replied in unison, and Aeris laughed at the blonde.<br>"You _just _told me you would show me where it was!"  
>"I meant I... I would help..," he muttered, realizing he no longer had no control over the words that came out of his mouth. "...Geez."<p>

The Ancient giggled and Cloud's ears burned, but he still smiled. All embarrassment aside, it was good to hear her laugh again.

In front of them, Barret rolled his eyes. "Alright then, follow me. We were supposed to be there fifteen minutes ago."

In a piss-poor attempt to compose themselves, Aeris stifled her laughter and Cloud grinned idiotically as they followed the gunman upstairs to meet with the others.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

**A/N: Hey friends! I've just posted a new sub-story to this fic. It's called "Caged." You don't HAVE to read it, but it'll come in handy later- and I could always use the reviews! Thanks! :D**


	11. Chapter 11: Coping

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, as always! :D Please enjoy Chapter Eleven!  
>Disclaimer: I do not own FF and am not making money offa this fic!<strong>

**Chapter Eleven: Coping**

It took almost half an hour for Cait Sith and Cid to explain everything they'd found to the others.

Even then, the group barely understood. Aeris had no idea what the whole "Ancient Princess" thing was about, and swore she'd received no special instructions concerning the Princess Guard before she got it.

"My mother never spoke much about weapons." She sat quaintly on a chair just inside the circle everyone made around the sphere-shaped room. "Or any sort of hierarchy in the Cetra culture, either. And from what little I _do_ remember of my time in the ShinRa lab, I think Hojo _did _mention JENOVA materia a few times, but I never really understood what he was talking about, and even when I was older, I didn't think about it." She shrugged, looking over at Nanaki who sat calmly beside her. "I didn't take it to heart because I knew he was wrong about a lot of things."

"He was wrong about _most _things," the beast murmured in agreement, settling down further to lie on the floor.

"The photograph," Cloud started from his place off to the side, "the one with Hojo and ShinRa Sr. in it. You said Vincent was there too-."  
>"I remember the picture." The ex-Turk interjected, knowing the comment was inadvertently aimed at him. "But at that time I had no idea what had triggered their research."<p>

"Lucrecia was the one to find the book, right?" Barret pointed out. "She never talked about it?"  
>"She spoke only of JENOVA's possible existence as a Cetra. I believe <em>that <em>was the main focus of the research until Gast ruled it out and left. The entire concept of JENOVA_ Materia_- if it was ever discussed at all- was brought up long after he was gone and Hojo had...disposed of me."

The room was quiet for a moment, before everyone began muttering amongst themselves. No one knew what was going on. It was confusing enough that Aeris was back, but dealing with a monster they thought they'd already defeated _twice_? Not to mention the faceless Ancient doppelganger...

As the small-talk grew back into casual brainstorming, Yuffie relaxed against the wall. Sitting next to the door she felt safe- content to watch her friends converse and hash things out as she calmly twisted the tails of her headband between her fingertips. Clips of everyone's conversations buzzed in her ears, but she didn't pay them much attention, her mind swimming with its own questions as the floorboards she stared at slowly dissolved into the white floor of ShinRa's excavation tent...  
>~<p>

_"Just tell me where the materia is and this will all stop!"  
>~ <em>

_"Aeris...please...if you can hear me- don't do this..."  
>~ <em>

_"What do you mean, my dear? I am Aeris."_

_~  
>"...from what I can tell, you <em>_are expendable after a point...Don't try to escape."_

_~  
>"...Yuffie? ...Yuffie?"<br>~ _

"...Yuffie!"

She gasped, eyes wide as she jerked upright and looked beside her to meet Tifa's ruby, concern-filled gaze.

"Are you OK? You look a little pale."  
>"I'm fine." She shook her head, wiping the beginnings of sweat from her face as she tried to focus on the topic at hand. Drawing her knees to her chest, she scanned the room to locate whoever was talking, only to find herself looking at Vincent. The ex-Turk was directly across from her, barely shielded by Barret's behemoth shoulders as he stared down at her. She would have been startled, but- in the spirit of not wanting to feel put-off- she narrowed her eyes and stared back, daring him to say something.<p>

The notion was ridiculous, of course. Vinnie was all the way on the other side of the room- not that he would have said anything anyway. He just blinked- that long, deliberate blink that she swore he did consciously even though blinking is something most people do without a thought- and looked back down to the person she'd been trying to find in the first place.

"So what we're boiling this down to," Cid summarized, "is that Hojo's team started looking into this some thirty years ago. They _knew_ about the JENOVA Materia- sort of- but had no clue where it was or what it could do. Sometime in the last two years _someone _figured it out, told Rufus, and now Aeris is here and we have no fucking clue what's going on."

Having not been paying attention before that moment, Yuffie's eyes suddenly lit up.

"The Princess Guard," she blurted out, and everyone looked at her. "The files I read in the shell-house said something about the orbs on Aeris's weapon _being _the JENOVA Materia. The one that we left on there when we buried her was the one that brought her back, and the one that I carried around in Conformer was the one that-." She winced as she looked at her old friend, knowing what she was saying was weird. "...That made her normal."

Again, the room was quiet, until Cait Sith snorted.

"Well, that's a pretty solid connection."  
>Nanaki sighed. "Yuffie, you're saying that the orbs on Aeris's weapon- the ones that we split up- were what Hojo was after all along?"<br>"Yes-." She paused, then shook her head, "Well, I mean- they're what _Rufus _was after. I don't know how that connects with Hojo. And it sure as hell doesn't explain Vecena."

"We need to go to the ShinRa Mansion," Aeris offered, looking around. "The library's still there, right? If that's where they keep the files we might be able to find more information."

The guys in the circle grumbled at the suggestion, but Tifa agreed.

"She's right. The closest resource we have on this is in Nibelheim, and chances are if we're going to find anything on the JENOVA Materia outside of Edge or Midgar, its going to be there."

After a few seconds, Cloud cleared his throat. "Then we should leave tomorrow. We'll rest here tonight, then stock up on supplies and head out in the afternoon."

It was really the first executive decision he'd made as the reinstated leader, and everyone seemed OK with it. Across the room, Barret stood.

"Well, in that case. I'm takin' my ass to bed. See y'all in the mornin."

He left, and Cid followed suit shortly after. As the team continued to disperse Yuffie rose, tugging at her shorts as she shook the tingly sleep-feeling out of her legs.

"Yuffie." She came to attention as Nanaki approached her, voice low. "Are you still alright with going over things now?"

The ninja swallowed hard, looking around the room. Everyone but Cait Sith and Vincent had cleared out.

Following her gaze, Red explained, "Cait is going to stay and help make sure we cover all of the questions we need answers to."

She nodded, but it wasn't _him _she was worried about. The gunslinger stood calmly at the door, listening to the cat as he rambled on about something.

"It's fine," she said, eyes not moving. "I just...is Vincent going to be here too?"  
>"He doesn't require sleep, so I invited him to stick around." The robot turned to face them, overhearing the question. "Is that OK?"<p>

Neither he nor Red seemed to actually care what her response was, because they both moved to begin setting up for their experiment before she could even think of answering. Vincent, however, continued watching her as he moved to her side.

"Would you like me to leave?"  
>"No." She snipped, absently rubbing at the swarm of goosebumps that had begun spreading over her arms. "You can stay."<p>

He hummed, then turned to observe two organizing everything.

"We're ready." Nanaki motioned to the chair. "This should only take a few minutes."  
>"I'm sure," she grumbled, folding her arms over her chest tightly as she walked to stand in front of him and then sat, passing a nervous glance back to Vincent. Pursing her lips, she looked at Red. "Let's get this over with."<br>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check. Check. Check again.

Force of habit struck for the second time that night as Cloud examined every corner of his guest room; checking locks, looking in closets, scouring every inch of every corner in the room until he was satisfied there were no bugs or hidden compartments that could slip open without him knowing about it. A paranoid routine, for sure, but after years of running, fighting and hiding from things that more often went bump in the night than in the day, it had become a second nature survival instinct for the ex-SOLDIER.

He had just finished positioning his weapons around the bed for the night when a soft knock at the door caught his ear.

"Hey, come in," he called, not turning around right away. "Glad you came by, Barret, I actually wanted to talk to you about tomorrow-."

His voice was cut short by the lump that formed in his throat when he finally turned to see the Ancient shyly leaning in the doorway.

"Oh... hi Aeris."  
>"May I come in?"<br>"S..S-Sure," he stammered, rushing forward to pull the door the rest of the way back for her. "Of course."

She strode in silently, hands twisting behind her back in that characteristically nervous tic of hers. Cloud stood stiffly, trying to covertly wipe the sweat that was forming in his palms off on his shirt without her noticing.

"So, that was a fun meeting." He was so focused on breathing, there was nothing left to keep him from saying stupid things. "Always nice to have the old group back together again-."  
>"-I'm happy to see you."<p>

He startled, taking a step back as Aeris turned to him, green eyes just as bright and beautiful as the day they first met.

What she had said almost didn't register, until, "...What?"  
>"I'm happy to see you," she said it again, slower. As he let out a relieved laugh she smiled, turning her gaze down as a pretty blush crept into her cheeks.<br>"Wow, I..." He ran a hand through his hair, relaxing a bit. "...You wouldn't believe how glad I am to hear you say that." Pausing, he smiled back. "I'm happy to see you too."

They stood for a moment, then Aeris nodded. "...That's all I wanted to tell you." Looking back up at him, she quirked her lips. "Good night, Cloud."

She turned to leave, and the leader felt something catch in his chest. Aeris Gainsborough was back in his life. The insane fact swept over him suddenly, and there was little he could do to stop himself from reaching out and touching her shoulder.

"Aeris-."

As if she'd been waiting for his protest, Aeris spun back around, pushing up onto her toes and throwing her arms around him. Cloud caught her around the waist, picking her up effortlessly to hold her as she buried her face into his neck.

They stood in silence for several minutes, hugging one another as if the embrace would somehow convey how they felt- how sorry he was for everything that happened, how happy she was that he'd made it through OK.

So wrapped up were they in the moment that neither of them noticed when Tifa stopped in the doorway, her intention of wishing Cloud goodnight left hanging behind them as she quietly walked back to her room with tears in her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>"Tell me your name."<br>"Yuffie Kisaragi."  
>"How old are you?"<br>"I'll be twenty-two in November."  
>"Where are you from?"<br>"Space."

Cait Sith paused, confused, and tilted his head.  
>"...Space?"<br>"Yes," Yuffie replied, rolling out of her fake-daze as she looked at him dully. "Space. My interests include chocolate and vodka, and I enjoy long walks on the beach."

Seeing she was being a smart-ass, he huffed.  
>"Yuffie-."<br>"This isn't _working_," she moaned, cutting her eyes between the two non-humans as she twisted in the chair to drape her legs over the armrest. "Do you _honestly _think you can just make me zone out like some kind of... puppet?"

Cait looked at her levelly, hearing the satire in her tone. "Ha. Ha. Ha. I'll have you know that there's a _personality _underneath all of this hard-wire and metal. Not to mention a perfectly capable human being behind the controls." Putting one tiny hand on his hip he used his other to fuss with his crown. "Now aren't you going to at least _try _to cooperate? I feel we're running a wee-bit off-base."

"It isn't going to happen." She looked past him to Nanaki, who sat a few feet away. "Every time you guys tell me to clear my mind it starts swarming with stuff."  
>"You have to learn to meditate," Red tried to coach, moving a little closer. "Calm breathing is the key to-."<br>"-A calm mind," she finished. "I know. I've been doing these exercises my entire life."

"That's the problem."

The three looked at Vincent, who had been standing calmly in the corner watching the failing experiment.

"She's a ninja," he explained. "She's trained so that things like hypnotism and illusions can't be used on her. The only way you're ever going to get her under is if she willingly goes down herself."

Yuffie stared at him. Where the hell did he get off suggesting shit like that? 'Go down herself,' what a crock! This guy probably wouldn't know hypnotism if she took one of those little pendulum thingies and whacked him over the head with it.

Of course, that would be counter-productive as far as hypnotism went, but whatever.

Unmoved by her attempt to bore a hole through him, Vincent stared back, and the two of them continued to glare at one another even when Cait Sith and Nanaki turned back to the ninja, the latter stepping toward her.

"Yuffie." She didn't answer, and he nudged her knee. "Yuffie-."

"What!" She startled.

He paused, clearing his throat. "I want to try this again. But this time, I want you to listen to Vincent."

She didn't let on, but Yuffie's mouth chose that moment to go impossibly dry. Vincent Valentine was already doing enough damage to her brain as it was, he was literally the _last _person she wanted to... 'put her under'.

(Or maybe he's _exactly _the one you want to do it...) She thought, wrinkling her nose. (This _sucks_.)

Even _Vincent _seemed unsure. "Nanaki, I-."

"Please." Red turned to look at him, tail twitching as he pleaded. "This is very important, Vincent, and it's obvious you've dealt with people in her situation before."

The ex-Turk looked back to the Princess. She shriveled under his gaze, drawing in her previously-relaxed stance as she turned to sit upright in the chair. There was no verbal objection, but he could see it all over her face- she was scared.

(She has every reason to be,) he thought. (She _should _be afraid of someone like me.)

Despite internal protest, Vincent moved forward. Nanaki was right to have such faith in him- he _had_ dealt with this before. Many times. Luring subjects into hypnotism had been part of his upper level training as a Turk; an art that was left to extinction shortly after he learned it, in fact. Something about no one on the Planet thinking for themselves anymore kind of made it useless, since it was so easy to brainwash them anyway.

But this was different. _She _was different. Yuffie was strong, independent, hard-headed and fiercely protective of her friends and family. In the same vein, she was extremely protective of _herself._ Maybe that's why he'd become so drawn to her over the past few years...

(That's enough.) He shook his head. (It isn't right to think this way, and you have enough to atone for as it is.)

Stopping in front of the chair, he hesitated. He didn't want to do this. Not to her. Even though his more mature inner voice reasoned that it was all for the sake of the group; for finding out what was going on behind ShinRa's closed doors, figuring out what they wanted with Aeris and who Vecena was, the other, less-activated part of the man could only see the hesitant fear in Yuffie's eyes as he knelt down in front of her...

And then it started again.

He tried to ignore it- the way her brow knit and her lips pursed when he placed his clawed hand on the chair just beside her legs. The way her flesh prickled when he leveled with her to look into her eyes and tell her to focus... In the end it wasn't necessary- the proximity, the contact- Yuffie was surrendering even before he'd told her to relax, and he felt it. She was _yielding_ to him, and the weirdest part about it was...he wanted her to. It was strange, and he swore as it happened that he would never breathe a word of this inconceivable feeling to anyone, but even then the gunslinger couldn't stop. Looking into her face, he reached up with his partially gloved hand and closed her eyes.

"Yuffie."

She shook under his touch, but her voice was calm. "...Uh-huh?"

"Breathe in deeply, then exhale. Do this four times, slowly, as you listen to my voice. Think of nothing. Think of no one. My voice is all you hear. All you _want_ to hear. Listen to me...and when I tell you to, open your eyes and answer every question you're asked."

A few minutes passed, and then he murmured, "open your eyes."

The ninja did as she was told, but unlike before, it was _very _obvious she was no longer...there. Vincent drew in a breath.

"State your name."  
>"Yuffie Kisaragi."<br>"How old are you?"  
>"Twenty-one."<br>"Who are your parents?"  
>"Godo and Kasumi Kisaragi."<br>"How do they fare?"  
>"Godo is well. Kasumi...is dead."<p>

Vincent glanced back at Cait Sith and Nanaki, giving a slight nod to affirm Yuffie was under and ready to be questioned. Standing, he stepped to the side as the Elder took over sitting in front of her to begin the interrogation.

"Where were you three nights ago?"  
>"Wutai."<br>"What were you doing there?"  
>"I live there."<br>Cait Sith snorted, and Red rolled his eye. "What _activities_ were you doing three nights ago?"  
>"I was in the bar, having a drink. I'd just finished my night class with the older students in my Father's school and needed a break."<br>"Did you notice anything suspicious?"  
>"No."<p>

A pause, and he shifted on his haunches. "When did the SOLDIERs come to take you?"  
>"Around a quarter-to-eight. I'd just gotten a refill on my glass and was checking the text Vinnie... Vincent sent me."<p>

Everyone caught the hesitation at Vincent's name, but no one said anything.

"What happened next?"

"The doors flew open and they came in..." The ninja stared straight ahead, her eyes blank as she recalled the events as they happened. "They shot Johnny. They shot Elder Eirlo. They shot everyone. Then they stabbed me in the neck with a sedative...and it got dark."

"Did you hear anything? Any familiar voices?"  
>"No," she shook her head. "No one familiar...but someone said they had to get me out of there before 'he' got there. I don't know who they were talking about."<p>

There was a pause, and Cait Sith moved to stand beside her.

"Yuffie, do you remember hearing anyone else talking? Maybe someone that _was _familiar?"  
>"Reno talks a lot," she blurted, head dropping down. "He never shuts up. He's worse than Godo."<p>

They glanced at one another, and Red picked up. "Good, this is good. What did he say?"

"He didn't shoot Johnny- not that he wouldn't, he says- he'd shoot just about anybody if the price was right. Johnny isn't my boyfriend. He's just a nice guy that was in the wrong place at the wrong time..."

"Did Johnny help the Turks take you?"  
>"No." Her body went rigid, as if the suggestion was offensive to her subconscious. "Johnny was a nice kid, and he always gave me my drinks for free..." She wrinkled her nose. "Fucking <em>Reno<em>...I threw him off the airship when he tried to stop me from leaving, but then _she _showed up..." She fell quiet for a few seconds, then her brow furrowed and her voice dropped to a whisper.

~  
><em>"Cut off her hands."<br>"That won't be necessary-."  
>"Don't tell <em>_me __what is or is not necessary, Turk. Just do it."  
>~ <em>

"Vecena wanted to hurt me, but Rude...Rude wouldn't let her."  
>~<p>

_"You don't write my checks."  
>"I also don't <em>_give__ a fuck. I'm worth more to your boss than __you__ are. Do you know what that means? It means I could kill you and he wouldn't care. Hell, with as many times as you idiots have failed him, he'd probably __thank __me."  
>~ <em>

"She was really angry...but he didn't back down."  
>~<p>

_"Guess you'll just have to chance it."  
>"...Incompetent prick. I'll bet you're in cahoots with that red-caped clown. Fine then, take her back to her cell. I'll just enjoy killing her slowly all the more once I'm done using her to suck out that Ancient's soul."<br>~ _

"He carried me back..."  
>~<p>

_"You just never know when to shut up, do you? A lot of good that mouth of yours has done for you this time, Yuffie. Why couldn't you have just stayed in Rocket Town with the others, where you were safe?"  
>~<em>

"I don't know. I don't know why I ever left. I loved it in Rocket Town."  
>~<p>

_"Reno said Cloud's been gone a while."  
>~ <em>

"He always leaves. Why does he always have to ruin for the rest of us?  
>~"<p>

_"Vincent was the first to come after you."_

~  
>"Vincent..."<p>

_~  
>"I wonder if he knows where we're taking you?"<br>~ _

"He has to. Vinnie always knows how to find people. He always knows how to find _me._.."  
>~<p>

_"Why was he the first one to show up?"  
>~ <em>

"Because I missed him. I wonder if he missed me too?" Yuffie seemed to trail off as the dialogue from her subconscious ended. "Why did you leave me, Vinnie? Why didn't you save me? Rufus wanted to hurt me too... They locked me in a room, and I found a file with all these fucking pictures in it...Why didn't you tell me you'd been watching over me? Were you scared I would freak out? I wouldn't have, Vinnie, I would have asked you to stay..." She shook her head slightly, small frame quivering as the memories started getting darker. "They put me in that room...with Aeris's...you know. She was dead- she was a _corpse_, Vinnie. Then Rufus came and...and he started yelling at me. He told me to tell him where the materia was, but I didn't- I _couldn't_...not after reading what was in that file..."

At this point, Nanaki and Cait Sith were speechless, both of them sitting back quietly as they looked between the ninja and the gunslinger hesitantly. Vincent only watched the young woman before him, feeling an odd pull in his chest at the sight of her trembling.

"I kept my mouth shut...and he started using the Heart materia. She woke up, but it wasn't her...Vincent...where are you?" Her pitch went up as it became obvious she was losing control of the recollection. "Please, stop!_ Make it stop!"  
><em>  
>In a panic, Cait Sith jumped forward, waving his hands.<p>

"Yuffie, wake up!"  
>But she didn't hear him. "Vinnie! <em>Vinnie where are you!"<br>_  
>Nanaki tilted his head. "Vincent-."<p>

He was way ahead of him. "Yuffie." Dropping back down in front of her, he leaned forward and held the sides of her face. "Yuffie- _listen to me."  
>"Where are you?"<em>  
>"When I count to three, you're going to open your eyes, and you're going to be awake."<br>"Aeris, please, stop! _Don't do this!"_  
>"One."<br>"_Stay back!_"  
>"Two."<br>"Vinnie! Please _help me!_"  
>"Three."<p>

The moment he said it, Yuffie's screaming stopped. Her eyes snapped open, tears threatening their corners as she reached up to grab Vincent's hands. She gasped for air, catching her breath after a few moments as the room finally came crashing back into focus.

The realization of what had happened was brutal, but in spite of the embarrassment that began creeping into her stomach she was frozen, held captive by the glowing eyes that hovered inches in front of her, stirring her nerves but calming her fears.

"Yuffie." Nanaki's voice sounded out from behind Vincent, but she couldn't move. "Yuffie, are you alright?"

"No," she breathed, lost in the man before her. "I...I..." Shaking out of her trance suddenly, she gripped Vincent's wrists. "I need to leave."

He didn't try to hold her. Releasing her face, the ex-Turk stood and stepped back, allowing the ninja to shakily rise to her feet and run a hand through her hair.

"I hope you found what you were looking for, Red.," she murmured with more than a hint of humiliated disgust as she turned and walked out of the Observatory, slamming the door behind her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>In the Cosmo Canyon bar, Barret and Cid had slipped out for a super-late night cocktail, both of them having discovered shortly after leaving the meeting that they couldn't just drop into bed without a couple of stiff drinks.<p>

It had been an unplanned meet-up, no doubt. Barret came down after about five minutes of lying in bed tossing and turning with thoughts of the unraveling mess they'd gotten themselves into, while Cid had opted to just go straight there after the initial rendezvous. Nevertheless there they were, chatting quietly over their glasses of scotch and whiskey whilst the television blared in the background.

"Looks like it's gonna be another scorcher today," the gunman grumbled into his glass as the 7-Day-Forecast came across the screen.  
>"You say that like you've been here to suffer through the last week," Cid chuckled, shaking his head. "It ain't like we're gonna be out in the Canyon."<br>"True, but who knows what all Cloud's gonna have us doin' before we leave this afternoon?"

He huffed. "You didn't have to let him take charge, you know."  
>Barret paused, giving the old pilot a knowing look. "Neither did you."<p>

They fell quiet. Being two of the oldest members in the group, the men couldn't help but feel a pang of remorse at throwing leadership onto Cloud, but in all honesty the weirdo was actually best at making decisions in a bind. Not to mention he was conditioned to lead.

"He needs the distraction," Cid murmured finally, quirking his lips. "Seems like Aeris bein' back is gonna stir up a lot more than questions about the Cetra."  
>"Don' even go there," Barret replied. As much as he loved Tifa, facts were facts. And he wasn't about to stick his nose in places it didn't belong. "He ain't the only one hangin' on that piece'a string."<br>"You ain't gotta tell me twice. I got enough women problems as it is- hey-." He stopped short when he noticed something on the TV that prompted him to smack Barret's arm and point. "Look."

The old mercenary followed his gesture to look at the news, where a "Breaking Story" feed had started to run across the bottom of the screen.

"In Costa del Sol a storm has begun to stir off the coast. Meteorologists predict it will be the worst the village has seen since the tsunami of '86."

The picture cut to an ill-lit image of the seaside city, where a series of white-capped waves continued to edge further up the shoreline toward the quaint houses that lined the beach.

"Ain't that some shit." Barret shook his head, setting his glass down. "Wonder if ol' Spikes would wanna stop by there first- see if we can help out?"  
>"He won't have a choice once I tell Tifa n' Aeris about it." Cid snorted, pulling his money for the tab from his pocket and laying it out on the bar as he stood. "My suggestion? Let's get a couple hours sleep before we head out. Today's gonna suck."<br>"Shawnuff." He agreed, following the older man's lead as he paid his bill and the two went back to their respective rooms for a quick nap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>Yuffie was angry.<p>

No, she was _beyond_ 'angry.' She was _furious_. How _could_ he? Red _promised_ her he wouldn't let her freak out, and that's _exactly _what she did!

(In all fairness, he didn't 'promise' you anything,) her subconscious mocked. (You totally walked right into that one, Kisaragi.)

"Oh, shut up," she grumbled to herself, throwing the door to the tavern open and striding in like a woman on a mission. She barely caught a glimpse of Cid and Barret as they left out of the other exit, but didn't bother flagging them down. No, she wanted to drink alone this round.

Technically _last _round she drank, she drank alone. But that was beside the point.

"Vodka, on the rocks." She waved to the bartender, who didn't seem the least bit annoyed at the random customers that kept trickling in at such an ungodly hour. Moments later she had her poison of choice in hand, quickly destroying it as she stared pointedly at the surface beneath her elbows.

(I can't believe I fucking went _off_ like that,) she thought bitterly. (And _right _in front of him, too! They couldn't have at least woken me up before I started talking about how I felt?)

She hummed to cut her mind off, mortified enough as it was without having to relive the entire experience again. It was unfortunate that while she had been 'under,' the entire session felt like nothing more than a dream to her- at the time, anyway. Then she woke up to Vincent's hands on her face...

(What the hell was _that_ about, anyway?) Her inner voice piped up again. (He actually looked worried. I must have been screaming or something. Yeah, that must have been it. Vinnie doesn't just look at people like that- especially not _me_.)

She finished off her drink, and the barman was quick to refill it. Sighing, Yuffie pressed the chilled glass to her forehead and closed her eyes...

_~  
>"Need another one?"<br>She smiled. "Thanks, Johnny."  
>The orange-haired bartender winked at her. "Anytime, Princess."<br>__Yuffie couldn't help but smirk. What a good-guy Johnny was. Maybe she would actually let him follow through with those advances of his tonight..._

_**Buzz. Buzz**__._

_She glanced at the screen- "Vinnie Valentine." Ignore. Sighing, she threw the rest of her drink back and waved the bartender down for a refill. How long had it been since she'd actually spoken to him – two, three weeks?  
>~ <em>

"Ugh." Sliding the glass down the side of her face to her lips, she sipped at the tonic desperately, willing the alcohol to haze the memories she couldn't stop from muddling her head...

~  
><em>Her phone buzzed once more, and this time she gave an amused laugh when she looked down to see that she had a text from the gunslinger. When had he learned how to text? Surely not with that weird-ass clawed hand of his. She picked it up, sliding the screen open and clicking the message.<em>

_"Run."  
>~ <em>

Yuffie couldn't hold the groan that slipped from her as she dropped her drink the short distance to the bar, wincing when it clattered loudly against the wooden surface. She had to get out of here- this situation was becoming far, _far_ too familiar- and she was _alone_.

"Gin, straight."

The ninja froze in her chair when Vincent appeared beside her, casually signaling the bartender to order as if he were just arriving for some sort of planned date.

She stared at him but he barely regarded her, instead settling onto his bar-stool and accepting his drink with a nod of thanks. Yuffie held her head high, sliding calmly back into her seat and gripping her vodka with a strong hand.

"You're up late."  
>"We <em>just <em>left the experiment," he replied curtly, the undertone in his voice telling her he wasn't out to play games. "You had a lot to say, Yuffie-."  
>"You fucked with my head," she shot, determined to hold her own in this unintentional bitch-fight. "I didn't even <em>know<em> I'd heard some of those things I spilled about-."  
>"That's beside the point." He never looked at her, but she somehow felt like he was staring right through her. "You were scared, Yuffie. And you expected <em>me<em> to come and save you-."  
>"It was only because you were the last person I <em>talked to<em>." Her stormy gaze was fixed on him now, the liquor finally nipping at her nature enough to make her more daring by the second. "I don't _need _anyone to save _me, _Vincent Valentine." She threw back the rest of her drink, holding her glass out for a refill as the bartender passed by. He topped her off, and Vincent gave him a look.  
>"That's her last one."<br>"You can't _cut me off!" _ She scowled, slamming the glass on the counter and sloshing most of the booze out of it. She didn't seem to notice. "I can fucking _take care of myself_, Vinnie!"  
>"You're being irrational." He countered quietly, knowing she was quickly sliding past the point of reason. "You're tired, and you're drunk."<p>

"_Fuck _you," she spat, moving to stand up. As she turned her feet outward she lost her balance, reaching over to grab onto Vincent's shoulder to steady herself. The ex-Turk reacted by twisting around, throwing the ninja off just enough that she pitched forward onto his chest.

Under normal circumstances, Yuffie would have been mortified. But like Vincent had pointed out earlier- she was exhausted, _and _drunk. So when her face hit the crook of his shoulder, instead of jerking back she leaned onto him, her body fighting off the subconscious squawking to pull away from him as he set his drink down and wrapped his arms around her. Sliding his clawed hand under her knees he lifted her up without hesitation, reassuring the bartender he would come back to pay both their tabs once he'd put the Princess to bed.

It took him five minutes to carry her through the village to her room, and he was very much thankful that no one was waiting up for her when they got there. Pausing to let his eyes adjust to the dark, the gunslinger took a moment to appreciate the young woman in his arms.

"I tried to reach you before they did," he explained to her sleeping form. "I _fought _to get to you." Spotting her cot in the corner, he strode over and knelt, gently laying her down. "I'm sorry for the things they did to you, Yuffie."

He went to stand, but stalled when the ninja let out a breathy sigh. He looked over her. When had this happened? Four years ago she was so awkward, so..._childish._ When had this transition to being a _woman_ occurred? Sure, the fact that she had just blacked out in a bar sort of counteracted his thoughts of her as a mature adult- but that wasn't the point. She had grown up. She was dealing with _real _issues, and aside from this moment of weakness, she was handling herself fairly well. He was impressed.

Then there was the entire situation with _him_.

(She didn't know what she was saying,) he assured himself. (She was hypnotized, and obviously under a lot of stress.) Still, the memory of the look in her eyes haunted him. What could have _possibly_ triggered such a reaction in her? Why would she _ever_ look at _him _like that ?

"Vinnie..." Her murmuring drew him out of his thoughts, and he looked at her idly as she writhed in her bed, sweat starting to form on her neck as obvious nightmares began to plague her dreams.

(She doesn't deserve this torture.) Digging into his utility belt, he retrieved a small vial of Elixer and pulled the cork from it. Under any other circumstance he would have thought this was a poor use of such an expensive remedy, but there was just something about the way she whimpered...he couldn't stand it. Reaching up, he gently tugged at her chin and coaxed her mouth open, dumping the liquid in and standing when she waved her arms about in an attempt to smack away the imaginary intruder. After she was finished sputtering she swallowed, the cure-all settling into her system nicely as she sighed contently and turned onto her side, drifting off to sleep in a matter of seconds.

Vincent watched her for several minutes, arguing with his inner demon about things he never thought he would consider in his life until he finally tore himself from Yuffie's presence, returning to the bar briefly to make good on his promise before stalking back to his room to mull over these rising issues in the solace of his own bed.

It was going to be a long day.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>AN: Please review and let me know how it went for you! :)**


	12. Chapter 12: Holding

**A/N: Update for you, please read and review! :)  
>Disclaimer: Don't own it, not making any money from it! :D<strong>

**Chapter Twelve: Holding**

"Mister Strife? Mister Strife!"  
>"Mm."<br>"Mister Strife please- wake up! It's an emergency!"  
>"Mmm-mergency...?"<br>"CLOUD!"

"_Huh!_" The leader bolted upright in his bunk, forehead smacking smartly on the wooden banister that ran under the bed above him and throwing him back to the mattress with a thump.

"_Sh-it!"_ He hissed, pressing a hand to his face as he nearly forgot there was a reason he was awake in the first place.  
>"Cloud, open the door!"<br>"Son of a _bitch_," he grumbled, rolling over and onto his feet to stumble across the room. Taking his hand from his head, he opened the door. "Yes?"

The short, young Cosmo-Canyon woman ogled at him. It wasn't until that moment that Cloud remembered he'd gone to sleep in his boxers.

Sucking in a sharp breath, he side-stepped behind the door and asked again. "What is it?"

She shook out of her trance, regaining her composure. "Elder Nanaki wishes to speak with you."  
>He rolled his eyes. "I'm sure. Can't it wait?"<br>"I'm afraid it can't," she pressed. "It's urgent."

Cloud snorted. If it had been _that _urgent Red would have come up himself. But whatever- he was awake now.

"Tell him I'll be right there," he muttered, running a hand over his eyes as he turned and pushed the door shut. "Thank you."

"You're welcome-!" She managed to get out before the entry closed in her face. Rude as it was, the ex-SOLDIER was still half asleep. He made a mental note as he dressed to apologize to the girl later.

Ten minutes was all it took for him to throw on what he'd left sitting on the chair in the corner and get to the Observatory, where a table of breakfast and most of the other members of AVALANCHE were waiting for him.

"Mornin', thanks," he murmured to Barret as he walked in, taking the mug of coffee the large man offered him.  
>"Mm-hm," the gunman replied with a tired nod.<p>

The blonde sipped his drink, swiping a bagel from the buffet as he crossed the room and stopped beside Tifa, who leaned against the foot of the table with her arms crossed, watching the TV that sat in the corner.

"Good mornin'." He smiled at her warmly.  
>"Hey," she replied coldly, only glancing at him.<br>He didn't seem to catch the chill. "You know what's going on? Red had someone come and wake me up. I don't know what's happening... _Man_ I'm exhausted."  
>"Maybe you shouldn't stay up so late then," she snipped, pushing off the table and striding over to sit beside Cid- who was camped out on an easy chair with his coffee and an early-morning smoke. Cloud hesitated, not sure what had just happened. After a moment he dismissed it with short shrug. It <em>was <em>still pretty early in the morning.

"Cloud." Nanaki's chipper tone made him squint as he looked to his four-legged friend. "We have a problem."  
>"I'll say," he mumbled, taking another sip of his coffee.<br>The beast ignored the innuendo, turning to the television. "It's all over the news. Come look."

Cloud paused to process the command, then followed him to stand a little closer to the TV. However, once he looked at it, it didn't take long to figure out what was going on.

"A storm...?" He said to himself, and then the camera panned out to reveal the water off the coast where a giant vortex-like hole had begun opening up in the ocean, a dark-haired woman hovering over the cavity. "...Vecena."

"She's going to destroy the village," Red deadpanned. "We have to stop her."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Cait Sith piped up from the floor nearby, startling them both. "She's probably expecting us, you know."  
>"Probably," he replied. "But we can't just sit back and let her kill all of those people."<p>

"Fuzzy's right," Barret agreed. "Lettin' someone take the hit while we run off to read books just ain' right." He looked at their groggy, blonde leader. "Whatcha say, Spikes?"

Cloud paused, furrowing his brow. "...Did you just call Red 'Fuzzy?'"  
>"He did," Nanaki confirmed, voice low and annoyed. "...I did not enjoy it."<br>"Anyway," Cait Sith cut in, "what are we gonna do?"

A moment of silent thought, and Cloud looked over to the Pilot. "Cid? How do you feel about evacuating the city?"

Cid leaned forward in his chair to look over at the small plotting committee, eyebrows raised as he fumbled with his free hand to pull another cigarette from his pocket.

"Well-." He trailed off when he realized in order to properly light the thing he would have to set his coffee down, but there was no place for that. After a few seconds of watching the older man fiddle about aimlessly, Tifa rolled her eyes and took the lighter from him, striking the flame and holding it out for him to catch it. He nodded a 'thank you' and looked back to the guys. "I reckon she could hold a village. Del Sol ain't nearly as big as it used'ta be, and we can always put people in the cargo hold."

"So we'll evacuate the village and then go back for Vecena." Cloud looked to Red. "Sound OK?"  
>"Yes. But in this case we'll need to leave sooner than twelve-o'clock."<br>"So round everyone up."

"Yuffie hasn't shown face yet," Barret noted. "And Aeris was still sleepin' last I checked."  
>"I'll go get Yuffie," Tifa volunteered, standing. "She was awake when I left to come up here. She's probably ready to go."<p>

No one argued as the barmaid left, but as soon as she was gone, Red looked over to Vincent, who had been standing silently in the corner.

"Did you talk to her last night?"  
>The gunslinger raised an eyebrow, then shook his head. "She was in no shape for talking after she left here. I made sure she went to bed, and that was the extent of it."<p>

Cloud, Barret and Cid were clueless, but decided it better not to ask. The gun-armed man turned to the door.

"I'll go get Aeris. See you guys on the ship."

He left, and the rest of the group got ready to leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>Yuffie stared at the vanity spread in front her, bottom lip rolled under hesitantly as she contemplated something she'd never had to contemplate before.<p>

(There's no reason to be ashamed,) she thought, folding her hands in her lap. (Most women do this every day, right? How hard can it be? )

A few more seconds of pondering, then she pushed herself to reach forward and pick up the bottle of concealer. Unscrewing it open, she wrinkled her nose at the sight of the icing-like paste inside.

"Fucking _clown_ paint," she muttered.

Makeup. It was something Yuffie had never considered when it came to her battle bruising... until that morning, when Tifa remarked how much worse the discoloration around her eyes had gotten. Upon looking in the mirror, the ninja was somewhat mortified at how purple she was.

(I don't even _remember_ getting hit in the face.) Leaning forward, she pulled the applicator and wiped some of the gel onto it, moving dab it on her cheek...

"Yuffie?"

The ninja jumped, vial sliding from her fingers and clattering noisily to the desktop as Tifa's voice came through the door. She knocked. "You in there?"

"No, _Boobs_." Unable to contain her irritation, Yuffie reverted back to her 16-year-old habit of perfectly appropriate name-calling. "Some other chick locked herself in here to put on this face-graffiti _you_ suggested she try."

A long pause, and then the sound of footsteps echoed away. Yuffie furrowed her brow and walked to the door, pulling it open and peeking out just in time to see Tifa disappear around the corner. Guilt panged in her chest. Had it really been that bad? The barmaid never _used_ to get upset about that name- not even back when she actually wore the outfit that went with it.

"Sorry." She found herself murmuring to no one, before returning to the mirror to try again. Taking the already coated sponge she pressed it to her face, dragging it downward to smear a chalky peach streak over the bruise. Setting the applicator down she started to dab at the sludge, spreading it evenly over her face.

She'd never cared much about her appearance when it came to wounds. To her, they were a symbol of perseverance and strength...at least, that's what Godo had always taught her. "There is no shame in scars," he would say, "So long as they are obtained honorably." She laughed every time he brought it up, but it was one of the few things that stayed with her over the years- something she actually _practiced_.

This, however, was different. The bruises and cuts she carried now may have been received with honor, but they were most definitely not something she wanted to wear with pride...or at all, really. Every mark she touched was a testament of what had taken place in the Forgotten City, every cut was a terrible memory she wished she could forget.

As she finished blending the first layer, she turned her head to examine her work. Not too bad, for a beginner. Picking up the powder next, she paused when she caught sight of something trailing the side of her leg. Twisting to get a better look, she found they resembled scratches- _claw_ marks, to be specific.

Before she could question it, a vision of her half-unconscious body being carried up the narrow stairs out of the bar by Vincent- his metal hand wrapped snugly under her thigh- flashed in her mind.

...Oh.

(That explains a lot.) She pursed her lips, settling back into the task at hand. (But I don't really remember much after the stairs...)

Naturally, she was embarrassed about her behavior from the Observatory to the bar the night before, but on the same note, she was still pretty pissed at Cait Sith and Red for letting things get so out of hand. What happened when she was under was humiliating- she had every right to act the way she did afterward...right?

She finished with the powder just in time for someone to knock at the door again. Feeling a bit remorseful, Yuffie stood and answered it.

"Tifa, I'm sorry-." She stopped when she realized no one was standing in front of her...at least not eye-level, anyway.

"Down here."

She dropped her gaze to see Cait Sith. "Oh, hey."

"We're getting ready to leave," he stated somewhat timidly. "Tifa was supposed to come get you, has she come by?"

"Just left," she half-lied, then, "I thought we weren't leaving til noon?"  
>"Change of plans. It looks like Vecena's trying to put Costa del Sol underwater-."<br>"Of course she is."  
>"-Cloud thinks we should go and help."<br>"Of course he does." She rolled her eyes, turning back into the room. "Fine. I'll get ready to go."

Cait caught the door. "Look, Yuffie. About last night-."  
>"Forget it," she snipped, not looking at him. "It's over. It's done."<br>He followed her in a few steps. "But Yuffie-."  
>"<em>Done,<em>" she reiterated, throwing a glare over at him.

He paused, tilting his head observantly. "...Are you wearing _makeup?_"  
>"You <em>do<em> realize you're in the perfect position to be punted, right?"

The robot seemed to detect that she wasn't joking; muttering a soft apology as he tucked his tail between his legs and left. Yuffie sighed and leaned on the vanity, scolding herself inwardly for being such a bitch.

(Be nice,) she reminded herself. (These people _did _come save your ass.)

Looking up at her reflection, she idly smoothed the makeup lines over just a touch more before going to strap down Conformer.

(It's going to be fine,) she breathed deeply as she threaded the weapon onto her belt. (Just board the ship, find a corner to throw up in and get through the morning. Once we hit Costa del Sol, last night will be the least of anyone's problems.)

She glanced at the clock- 8 am. Four hours. She could swing that.

Once more, her silent plotting was interrupted by someone at the door. Ready to go, Yuffie flipped the lights out and went to open it. Having just dealt with Cait Sith's tiny ass, her natural reaction was to look down.

This, of course, just happened to be where Vincent's crotch was in terms of her line of vision.

"Son of a _bitch,_" she spat tersely, scanning up to look him in the face. "It _had _to be you, didn't it?"

He ignored her remark. "It seems you've rejected the previous two messengers, so I've been sent to retrieve you."  
>Narrowing her eyes, the Princess crossed her arms. "You know, messengers usually get shot."<p>

"I'm the one with the gun," he replied bluntly, pushing his cape behind him as he walked away. "And I'm faster."

Yuffie snorted, shutting the door behind her as she reluctantly followed him down the hall. It was going to be a long morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>The ship ride couldn't go by fast enough.<p>

As much as she loved them, Tifa had had quite enough of her friends for the day. From Cloud being clueless to Yuffie being cranky- even Aeris, with her sweet, innocent personality, was grating on her nerves. The only person she could stand to be around for more than a few minutes at a time was Vincent. For one- he didn't ask her questions, and two- for whatever reason Red, Cait Sith and Yuffie wouldn't come near him- she'd picked up on that around breakfast; it took care of nearly half the group! Everyone else was either busy making Costa del Sol plans or reading through the Forgotten City files.

So she made him her partner of silence, whether he knew it or not. The two sat on the bridge quietly as the Shera's crew flitted about behind them, getting guest rooms and extra cots set up for refugees they might be picking up from the village. It wasn't much, but it was the least they could do and at the moment it was the only plan they had.

It wasn't until the coast was in sight that the gunslinger finally glanced down at her.

"You've been particularly quiet this trip."  
>She shrugged. "I haven't really felt like talking."<p>

"Hm." He seemed to catch that she still didn't want to speak, and let her have her way. She felt grateful, which in turn brightened her mood. Leaning onto the rail she gazed through the glass over the landscape below.

"Yuffie was kind of fussy this morning," she commented casually, not knowing what had happened the night before.  
>"She normally is."<p>

The barmaid looked at him, unsure whether or not he was joking. She chuckled anyway.

"I tried to help her out; she seemed pretty upset about her face bruising so badly. I got some makeup from one of the village women to let her try it- see if it helped. I don't know if she put it on or not-."  
>"She did."<br>"You talked to her?"  
>"Cloud sent me to hurry her along when she didn't follow you or Cait Sith. She wasn't very pleased to see me either."<p>

Tifa quirked her lips thoughtfully, looking back to the window. "I wonder what's bothering her? I'll have to ask her later."

Going with his better judgment, Vincent decided this was _not_ a subject he wanted to pursue. Much to his luck, he didn't have to look for a distraction to fill the gap. Overhead, the airship intercom buzzed to life.

"Attention all passengers and crew," Cid's gruff tone sounded above them. "We will be reaching Costa del Sol in about three minutes. Please get your asses ready to pick up a bunch of strangers."

Tifa laughed softly. "Oh, Cid. Ever the perfect spokesman."  
>"I always did say I wish I had his 'go-get-them' attitude," Vincent concurred dully.<br>Again, Tifa popped her eyebrows in amusement. "You're just full of funnies this morning, you know that?"  
>"Hm." He smirked, turning to head for the hangar. "We should go prepare to meet the strangers."<p>

It didn't take long for the rest of the group to congregate in the vast empty exit room of the Shera. Once they were all there, Cid strode toward the front, glancing around.

"We all here? Good." He reached up and grabbed one of the steel beams that stretched across the ceiling, hanging on it somewhat lazily. "Listen up, once we get to this city-."

"Wait! Wait for me!"

Everyone turned curiously as Aeris shut the door to the hangar behind her, jogging to get in line with the rest of the group. Cid hesitated, a smile playing over his cigarette-holding lips as a mix of guilt and happiness washed through him.

Tifa seemed to see it and, understanding, motioned Aeris to come stand beside her. The Flower Girl obliged giddily, clutching the materia-less Princess Guard in her hands as the martial-artist wrapped an arm around her and looked back to the pilot, nodding.

"_Now _we're all here. Go ahead Cid."

He nodded back, then kept going. "When we reach the city, there's a good chance all hell's gonna break loose. Ol' No-Face pro'ly has some sort a plan to keep us runnin' in circles 'til she catches us with our guard down, so I'm tellin' ya now- first thing's first. Get those clueless villagers the fuck outta there before you go to attack her. Got it?"

The group muttered their understanding, and Cloud stepped up to stand beside him, facing the rest of them.

"The plan is pretty basic. Cid and Barret are going to stay on the ship to attack if anything comes after it. The women will help get the villagers on and then stay here to help protect everyone. The rest of us are going to go through the town and make sure there aren't any monsters loose in the streets. Once we're all loaded up, Cid's pilot is gonna take the Shera out toward Edge and the rest of us will confront Vecena if she's even still here by then."

"What if she attacks while we're evacuating the town?" Yuffie asked.  
>"If that happens, then the ones of us that are on the beach will fight her off until you guys can get everyone out. If she attacks the ship- Cid and Barret should know what to do."<p>

"Damn straight," the gunman muttered proudly, tipping his head slightly toward his blonde counterpart.  
>Cid gave a lop-sided grin. "<em>Hell <em>yeah."

Above them, the speaker scrambled to life again.

"Attention everyone. We have reached Costa del Sol."  
>"'Attention everyone,'" the pilot grumbled, his chill mood faltering. Flicking his blunt to the side, he pulled Venus Gospel and shook his head. "Damn kid ain' ever gonna get it right." Still angry, he turned to Cloud and used his weapon to point. "An' <em>you<em>. I swear 'ta _god_ if you say 'let's mosey' at any point over the next few weeks I'll kick your ass off the bridge when we're flyin' over an _ocean_."

Not waiting for a reply, he walked to the door and hit the "open" button, turning to the group.

"Let's go!"

Cloud smiled at him, then turned to watch everyone else run by. He caught Vincent's calm stare as he passed, nodding a silent encouragement to the older man as he went. After him, he looked to Yuffie, who leaned against some crates with her arms crossed tentatively. When he caught her gaze she rolled her eyes, drawing Conformer as she stood and walked out.

"Let's just get this over with, OK? I've got shit to do."

He quirked his lips, shaking his head as he looked back to the two remaining women walking toward him. Aeris had a pleasant expression on her face, walking ahead as Tifa slowed beside her, seeing her Leader watching them both. As the Ancient kept going, Cloud looked at his childhood friend.

"You've been distant this morning."  
>She hesitated. "...I've had a lot going on."<p>

Although he was still pretty clueless, Tifa being off was never something Cloud was comfortable with. He didn't like seeing her angry, but he hated seeing her sad even more.

"I'm here. You know that."  
>Looking at him skeptically, she finally gave a short nod.<br>He wasn't convinced, but let it go. "Be careful out there."  
>"I always am."<p>

She walked out, and he turned to watch her leave. Another few moments of mental rallying and he followed after his friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>Costa del Sol was cold.<p>

That was the first thing every one of them noticed as they stepped onto the grassy plain bordering the back entrance of the city. The seaside town was normally sweltering- its streets usually filled with swimsuit clad vacationers and half dressed villagers that loved to sit in the sun or play soccer in the street. But now- _now _it was dark, and if one had never been to the place before they may have thought it was about to snow.

Or rain, anyhow. Which was what it was doing.

AVALANCHE had left the ship in a staggered pattern, but as they neared the hill overlooking the town, they managed to form themselves into a line on the embankment, weapons drawn but hanging loosely by as they watched the scene with weary intrigue.

"Why is she doing this?" Tifa wondered aloud what they were all thinking.

Many of the houses were already roofless, and the coastline was much closer than it normally was- having swallowed most of the beach and inching closer to the stone wall that hedged the street by the minute

"Why do any of these nutcases do _any_ of this?" Cid replied, starting to pull a cigarette but deciding against it when he realized they would be moving soon. "Power, money-."  
>"-Immortality," Nanaki cut in, shaking his hackles a bit. "They all seem to think longevity is some sort of blessing." He glanced up at Vincent, who stood beside him. "If I had the means I would like to give it to them, then see how they feel about it after a few hundred years."<p>

The gunslinger looked back at him, a moment of understanding passing between the two as they slipped back into silent observing. The rest of the group remained quiet, most of them dismissing the awkward declaration as they prepared for a battle they knew was likely to happen.

Yuffie, on the other hand, caught the exchange with bleak curiosity. She looked over to the tall man that stood several feet away from her, a curious thought prickling at the back of her mind.

How old _was _Vinnie, anyway?

(Old enough to have ran with the Turks when Cloud was in SOLDIER,) she referenced. (That was _years _ago... Wutai was still standing on its own back then...)

She shuddered involuntarily. The possibility that Vincent could have aided in the falling of her village's glory wasn't something she wanted to think about. So she didn't.

"We should go," Cloud's focused tone caught her thoughts, directing them where they needed to be. Looking ahead, Yuffie never saw when Vincent turned to gaze back at her.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Cait Sith muttered.

Steadying his Ultima Weapon, Cloud stepped forward and led the way down the hill and into the village, where most of the townsfolk recognized the group immediately. The team spread out- just as discussed- giving brief explanations to the people they met and sending them on their way to the ship.

Nearly half an hour passed by the time Cloud, Red and Barret reached the coast. As they stopped at the waterline, the three noticed that Vecena had begun moving toward the city.

"She's coming," Red deadpanned.  
>"Barret," Cloud looked to his friend. "Go get Cid and the women and load the ship."<br>"On it," he replied, turning to run back into the streets.

"She doesn't appear to be casting a spell," the beast went on, gaze never leaving the form as it continued to come closer.  
>"Her appearance doesn't change before she does."<p>

The two glanced over as Vincent stepped up beside them.

"She doesn't glow, she doesn't speak. It's almost as if magic is a thought for her."

Nanaki was unfazed, and Cloud just sighed as he called a few protective spells out of his Enemy Skill materia.

"That would have been nice to know _before_ we came into the village, Vince."  
>"Sorry."<p>

They fell silent as the monster finally stopped her advance a good distance off shore; faceless figure perfectly visible from where they stood.

"AVALANCHE!" Her voice sounded as if she were standing right in front of them. "Give me the Ancient and I will spare this puny city!"  
>"You're gonna have to try a little harder than that!" Cloud responded, drawing his sword back and readying his battle stance. "You're not taking her, Vecena!"<p>

She turned her chin down to the three on the beach. "You honestly believe you can protect her, boy? I can send her back to the grave just as easily as I pulled her from it!"  
>He hesitated, and Red stepped in. "Nice try, but we know you're not responsible for her resurrection!"<p>

Vecena laughed. "Ah, so the Princess woke up and told you the story, did she? Excellent! I can take them both together then, and finish what I started!"

It wasn't the first time today that Cloud was completely in the dark, but his comrades at least had a clue.

"Yuffie heard her say something about using her to suck out Aeris's soul," Red stated aloud, mostly for his own sake.  
>Vincent looked at him. "She still has the Spirit Materia on her."<br>The Leader groaned. "Guys, seriously. Things I should have known _before _we got here."

They were interrupted when Vecena let out a terrible shriek above them, stretching her arms out and dropping her head back as a bright green light began to emanate around her body.

"_M__ifletset!"_She roared. "Come forth, and show these mortals what happens to those who defy my will!"

The ground beneath them began to shake, and Cloud looked over at Vincent.

"I thought you said she didn't glow?"  
>"Obviously this is not an ordinary spell."<br>"We have to get back to the ship!" Red yelled over the noise. "We have to get Aeris and Yuffie out of here!"  
>"There's no time!" Cloud replied. "Look!"<p>

As if he needed to tell them.

From the vortex that still gaped in the water behind her, a giant, water-filled behemoth began to surface from the deep. It didn't look friendly.

"Red, go tell Cid to load the life-ships with as many people as he can and get them out of here- it looks like we're gonna need all the firepower we can get."

The beast nodded and ran as fast as he could back into the village. Vincent, ever the calm one, casually loaded Death Penalty and waited.

"You ready?"  
>He exhaled shortly. "Am I ever not?"<p>

Cloud smirked, turning back to the monster as it prepared to attack.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p> 


	13. Chapter 13: Corners

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait, friends! :) Thanks for the reads and all your great reviews- keep 'em comin', they're what make me post updates faster! ;D**  
>Disclaimer: <strong> I don't own FFVII, and am not making anything off of this fic.<strong>**

**Chapter Thirteen: Corners**

The earth rattled throughout Costa del Sol.

"Back into the city!" Cloud yelled to Vincent, the two retreating up the coastline as Mifletset trudged forward. When it reached Vecena, she shimmered and disappeared.

"Vecena-." Vincent started.  
>"Worry about her later." Cloud sheathed his sword and continued up the beach. "We have to get everyone out of here!"<p>

The gunslinger looked to his Leader, a moment of hesitation flashing in his eyes as he weighed how long he could personally hold off the monster against how long it would take to evacuate the city. In the end he decided it would be counterproductive to the team to risk sacrificing himself. Holstering Death Penalty, he turned and ran into the village to help gather anyone who was straggling behind.

Across the chaos, Barret watched the behemoth make its way toward them.

"Well, shit!" He yelled, checking his gun-arm to make certain it was loaded before signaling to Cid, who was rounding up villagers nearby. "'Ey Cid! You seein' this crazy motherfucker?"

Cid paused his profanity-laced instruction yelling to look up at the enemy approaching, giving it little more than a sniff before taking a half-hearted drag from his cigarette and blowing it off to the side.

"I've seen worse."  
>"We gotta get these screamin' fools on the ship!"<br>"Got it." He scratched his nose, swinging Venus Gospel around to turn toward his ship while yelling, "All aboard, air-heads! An' if ya gotta piss do it _before_ya get on, 'cause we ain't stoppin' 'til we hit Edge!"

Barret snorted, running a few streets down to where he knew Tifa and Aeris were working on damage control. He found them in an alley, talking to several people who had taken to hiding under overturned dumpsters.

"Tifa! Aeris! Time 'ta get the hell outta here!"

The two looked at him, then to Mifletset. Tifa nodded, finishing her explanation to the people in front of her before motioning for them to follow after her. Aeris, on the other hand, stepped out of the alleyway and past Barret, staring up at the demon with a look of despair on her pretty face.

"This is all my fault," she said softly, shaking her head. "It's going to destroy the city, all because of me, isn't it?"

Barret hesitated. He'd always been bad at comforting women, even little ones- Marlene being his case and point. But just like with his daughter- who he knew would be nothing short of ecstatic when she saw Aeris again- he couldn't help but want to try and help.

"Baby, this bitch seems to have a lot on her agenda- and you're just part of it. Ain' none of it yer fault. But you know what? The people that live here? They got money, they're gonna be jus' fine. An' I know at lot of people who're gonna say 'Ta hell with beach houses' when they find out yer alive. So keep yer head up, ya hear? It's gonna be alright."

Oh, Barret. Such words of encouragement.

She looked at him and smiled gently, feeling a bit better at the thought of people being happy to see her. Nodding, she lightly touched his arm in a silent gesture of thanks, then started for the ship.

As she walked away, Barret felt a twinge of pride in himself for being able to cheer her up. Unfortunately the moment was cut short when turned to see some ten people running out of the front door of a nearby house, Yuffie close behind them swinging Conformer.

"Move your asses, we don't have all day!" She screamed. "On the ship, all of you!"

Barret rolled his eyes, walking through the panicking people to the ninja. When she saw him approaching she turned to face him, sticking out her tongue.

"Don't you look at me like that!"  
>"Why you gotta scare everyone?"<br>She huffed, looking over her weapon and wrinkling her nose. "What? They didn't listen to me when I tried to be nice. How is it _my_ fault that they're so stupid they're more susceptible to fear than reason?"  
>"Quit tryin' to talk smart," he scolded, looking up to check the monster's status. "Get yer ass on the ship, I'll look and make sure there ain't no one left to round up over here."<p>

"I'm pretty sure that was the last of them." She ignored his lecturing, scanning the empty streets around them idly. After a few moments of listening to nothing but distant yelling and the sound of the villas cracking apart with the occasional ground tremor, she looked back to him. "Where's the rest of the group?"

The question caught him off-guard. Yuffie- asking about other people?

"Whaddya mean?"  
>She pouted. "Barret!"<br>"Don't know," he shrugged, glancing toward the beach. "Red told Cid and me to move everyone out. I sent Tifa and Aeris on their way, and I haven't seen Cait Sith since we came in."

Yuffie continued to stare at him, and it was at that moment a small light-bulb began to flicker on in Barret's head.

Was she asking him about someone specifically? No...no. Yuffie? Yeah right.

"Cloud and Vincent are still down on the beach, I guess." He shook his head. "But we gotta move-."

"Barret, Yuffie!"

The two looked up to see the aforementioned group members appear down the street, quickly making their way toward them.

"You guys need to get on the ship _now_." Cloud stopped in front of the gunman. "That monster's almost to the shoreline."  
>"Jus' doin' the final sweep of the town," Barret explained. "Makin' sure ain' no one else here."<br>"We'll take care of that, you have to get Yuffie out of here."

Beside them, Yuffie and Vincent were watching one another, that strange, awkward silence evident to no one but themselves.

As soon as Yuffie heard her name she furrowed her brow and glanced at Cloud. "What? Get '_me'_ out? Why?"  
>"Because Vecena has some plan-."<br>"She's going to capture you," Vincent interrupted. "She's going to use you to hurt Aeris."

She stared up at him, eyes quickly filling with fear at the thought of being at Vecena's mercy again.

"Go," he instructed quietly. "She won't hurt you this time."

The tone of his voice was gentle, taking her back to the night before and calming the nerves that were already fraying inside her. Giving a short nod, she turned and started for the ship, smacking Barret's arm along the way.

"Let's go!"

He paused, exchanging a 'wtf' raised eyebrow with Cloud before shaking his head and running after her, grumbling.

"This shit is fuckin' my imagination right the hell up."

They disappeared around the corner, and Cloud looked at Vincent.

"Come on, let's go sweep the town before that thing gets any closer."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Tifa reached the Shera just as the engines began whirring to life. Townspeople rushed into the hangar around her, bustling about in a nervous panic even once they were inside. The only other person not moving was Aeris, who stood on the other side of the opening, ushering people through.

"Right inside, there you go-just stay together, everything's going to be alright."

She watched the Flower Girl for a moment. There was something about the way she spoke and the way she moved that just seemed to make sense. She'd always been like that - always so calm, so level, even in the face of her own death. Aeris was the type of person who could tell you she had no idea what was happening in a situation and people would still follow her.

Maybe that's what Cloud saw in her.

Tifa furrowed her brow. Naturally this was _not_ the time to be thinking about this, but she couldn't help it. It made sense though, didn't it? Cloud was in the same position as Aeris: born into a destiny he had no control over, everyone he stumbled into looking to him for direction and strength. It was how AVALANCHE had happened in the first place- at least, the one that defeated Sephiroth anyway. Neither of them had a choice in their fates, but they took what they were given and moved on with a grace she never really thought was human. Why wouldn't it be understandable that they-.

"Close the door!"

Barret's gruff tone brought her out of her mulling just in time to greet him on the platform. He didn't look happy.

"What's wrong?"

"The demon's on the beach, and it's bringing the sea with it." Turning to the wall, he flipped open the hatch box and hit the switch. "It's coming for the ship- Vecena's after Yuffie and Aeris."

Tifa startled, looking across to Aeris, who paled. Between them Yuffie entered the bay and stood quietly, arms wrapped loosely around herself.

"Yuffie." Aeris stepped forward, placing a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "It's going to be OK."

"Where's Cloud?" Tifa turned back to Barret, and he shook his head.

"Still in the city, he's-."  
>"Double checking everything with Vincent," Yuffie cut in, looking at her. "They're making sure everyone got out."<p>

She blinked. "And Red and Cait Sith?"

"They're out there too," Barret replied, striding away from the panel to head toward the bridge. "We need to get off the ground now. I'm gonna go see Cid about the Life-Ships in case we have to go back for any stragglers. You girls go to the deck and get ready to fire the big guns on the behemoth."

He disappeared through the door, leaving the three women to stand silently with each other in front of the mass of terrified Costa del Sol villagers. As scary as the situation was, Tifa couldn't help but feel something else was going on with the youngest of their team, and walked the short distance to stand with her.

"Are you alright?"

She looked up, expression dull. "Vinnie said Vecena won't hurt us this time. We're going to be fine." Moving out from between them she went toward the door. "We should go get ready to take this thing out."

She left, and Tifa and Aeris could only exchange confused looks before following after her.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

After a few minutes of pausing to wait for Cloud as he picked through some of the bigger houses, Vincent decided it best to leave the blonde to his own excavating techniques and go it alone.

He wasted no time scouring the village. Despite the rising tide, Costa del Sol was still easy to navigate, and after several streets of empty villas and shacks, he was almost certain the place had been fully evacuated.

(Two more,) he thought, pushing a nearby door open and side-stepping as water gushed in behind him. (Then back to the field to make sure that monster doesn't go after Yuffie.)

It was a selfish thought, it seemed, but it was one he couldn't contain. Since last night, Yuffie's presence had grown stronger in his mind by the minute- every memory of her from the day she ambushed them on the Plain six years ago to the day he brought Cloud back to Rocket Town two years before...  
>~<p>

_"Get inside."  
>"You're making a mistake." Cloud looked up at him, mako-blue eyes weary and scared as they approached the bar they both knew held a group of people who were waiting for them. "We can't just act like nothing's happening, Vincent, you know what we saw-."<br>"What we saw was a fable, Cloud." He tried not to sneer, but after three days of battling SOLDIERs his patience had worn incredibly thin. "For all we know Rufus ShinRa could have planted the papers we read."  
>"And why would he do something like that? For fun? It sure as shit wouldn't be worth the trouble of sending a hundred SOLDIERs to attack us."<br>"Those were the patrol in the area." He pushed back, shaking his head against the rain that beat down relentlessly on them. "If he'd been guarding something precious we wouldn't be here."_

_Cloud stared at him for a moment, before letting his gaze drop. "_

_Yes we would. You know we would. We're stronger than that."  
>"Either way, we're here now."<br>"And what about Yuffie?"_

_That caught his attention. The Turks, just outside the city as they were coming back, had been plotting a detail on Wutai._

_The gunslinger swallowed. "What about her?"_  
><em>"You really expect me to believe you aren't the least bit concerned about her village? Please, Vincent. It won't be long before she gets bored with Rocket Town and disappears. Where do you think she'll go?"<em>

_He hesitated. "She's smarter than that."_  
><em>"Since <span>when?<span>" Cloud spat. "Look, I care about her too, but you know her better than any of us, Vince. You know she won't stay. And if you tellher about the Turks, it'll only make her leave sooner."_

_They stared at each other for a long time, the sound of the small city around them never cutting in on their silence until the distant chime of the Rocket Town clockshook them both out of it._

_"She won't be your problem." Vincent reached down and gripped the ex-SOLDIER by his belt, hoisting him off the ground to trudge the few feet between them and the bar door. "You can count on that."_

_Cloud didn't have time to answer before he was thrown into 7th Heaven, landing flat on his face in the midst of the rest of AVALANCHE. Instantly everyone was on him- checking him for wounds, making sure he was OK._

_Everyone except for Yuffie._

_Vincent hung back quietly at the door, arms folded as he waited for the inevitable; for Cloud to play the blame game and have him sent away. It was a tentative plan between the two, to say in the least. Cloud was normally never one to throw his comrades under the bus, but none of them would see that- Vincent knew they wouldn't._

_Only, she did._

_Yuffie stood off in the corner, hazel eyes carefully playing over him as he attempted to stonewall her. It didn't work. She was reading him even before he'd decided it was pointless to hide it. She knew something was wrong- something was very wrong._

_But he didn't give her time to ask- time for him to explain. The moment anyone even hinted at him being some sort of traitor he left. Granted, he didn't portray himself nearly as offended as he should have to have gotten away with it, but it worked nonetheless._

_Except on her, of course._

_He knew the moment her voice disappeared in the streets behind him as he walked out of the city that part of her would never forgive him, part of her would never be the same. She left for Wutai some three weeks later, and it was all he could do to watch over her- to monitor her every move. From seeing her make tea for her father early in the morning to watching her practice alone in the dojo late into the night, sometimes becoming so distraught in her training she wound upscreaming at nothing and no one for the life she'd been forced to lead since she was 16, only to end up back in her shamed village with nothing to show for it...  
>~ <em>

Vincent shook his head. Now was not the time for this.

Finishing his round of the abandoned house, he deemed it as such and exited, heading for the last one at the end of the street. It was to be a quick sweep, he assumed, but we all know what assuming does.

The moment he entered, he felt something was wrong. At first he was sure there were villagers inside, hiding from the doom that awaited them should they stay and sit through the flood, but the closer he got to the back of the villa, the more he felt the presence was...menacing.

"'Bout time you showed up."

Death Penalty was out and ready, but Reno didn't flinch. He stood in the middle of the room, knee-deep in water while he crossed his arms and attempted to look down his nose at a man nearly six inches taller than him.

"What? You gonna shoot me?"  
>"I locked you in a holding cell."<br>"I got out," he countered coolly, one hand sliding to rest on the hilt of his EMR. "Courtesy of Rude here, of course."

Vincent only glanced back when felt the presence that was Rude step into the doorway behind him. He was trapped.

"What do you want?"  
>"Where's Yuffie?" Rude asked, voice low.<br>"Not here," he replied, moving to the side and cutting his between them. "You won't have her, either."

"Ohhh, coffin-boy's getting' a little edgy about the ninja, eh Rude?" Reno popped his eyebrows, glancing from his partner to the enemy. "You two, always so protective of each other."

If he'd had time to regard it, Vincent would have asked what the hell the Turk was talking about, but alas, he was too busy trying to keep a travesty from happening.

"The behemoth is coming."  
>"What, Mifletset?" Reno crowed. "That thing won't hurt <em>us."<br>_"I think if you're standing in its path to the airship, it won't hesitate to kill you."

The redhead shirked, hating Vincent for his bluntness, but knowing deep down he was probably right.

Still, Vincent ignored him and turned to Rude.

"You know what she plans to do to them."  
>Rude tilted his head. "I don't know what you mean-."<br>"But you do. You've seen what she's capable of, Rude. You know her intentions."

The men faced off for a moment, before the bald one shook his head.

"We have orders."  
>"To <em>hell <em>with orders." He looked back to Reno. "Because of 'orders' half the Planet was incinerated by Meteor. Because of 'orders' _I_ can't die. How would _you _like to outlive all of your friends? Everything you know?"

"Everything_ I _know sucks..." The Turk trailed off, and for a few seconds the three were silent before a familiar noise intruded through the door behind Rude.

"What in the bloody hell are _you_ _two_ doing_ here__?"_

Cait Sith pounced between Rude's legs, startling them all.

"Reeve!" The two Turks shouted.  
>"You shouldn't be here," Vincent deadpanned. "The water will swallow you whole."<br>"Never mind that!" He hopped onto a nearby table. "Reno, Rude- why aren't you back at HQ?"

"New management," Reno replied bluntly. "Or should I say the current management is under new management. Vecena is using Prez to call the shots."  
>"And you're <em>listening?"<em>  
>"Stop acting like you know our position." Rude turned his head toward the robot. "You haven't had anything to do with the Turks since Meteor hit."<br>"You say that as if it's a _bad _thing," he retaliated, crossing his arms. "I don't suppose Tseng has any involvement in this?"

"_Fuck _you!" Reno drew his EMR angrily, flipping it out to the side. "We're Turks, Reeve! We do what we have to do to survive!"

The room was silent, before Rude cleared his throat.

"Reno...you can't use an electric weapon in the middle of a flood."  
>"I <em>fucking know that!<em>" He bellowed, sheathing the stick and looking between the two AVALANCHE members before walking forward. "Let's get out of here."

The bald assassin didn't hesitate; adjusting his sunglasses accordingly while he stepped backwards through the doorway to the now invisible streets outside. Reno followed after, shooting a venomous glance toward Cait as he went.

"Give my regards to Elena."

He disappeared out the door, leaving the gunslinger and the robot in the room alone.

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "Elena?"  
>"It's a long story," Cait concluded, turning to look at the water around them. "We're running out of time. The behemoth is-."<p>

A sudden tremor in the ground beneath them nearly sent them both to their knees. Before it was over, Vecena appeared at the front of the room.

"Imbeciles!" She yelled, not giving them a moment to catch up to the crazy she was preparing to unleash on the unprotected town. "I will show you what it is to meddle with the plans of those more powerful than you!"

Vincent and Cait Sith fell into battle stance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>"Get down!"<p>

Yuffie hit the deck while Barret twisted above her, gun arm rattling off on the monster in front of them. Looking up from the wooden platform, she shook her head.

"I don't think it worked."  
>He huffed. "It's too damn big, and full of water too, bullets are pro'ly goin' right through it."<p>

She sighed. This battle was going nowhere fast.

"We need bigger guns."  
>"We can't use anything while the Life-Ships are still on board," Tifa replied from her position a few feet away. "Cid said they should be leaving any minute now."<p>

On cue, the sound of several pod bay doors opening clicked about the side of the airship, and moment's later dozens of tiny gliders slid away from the Shera. The four watched from the lower deck, barely catching glimpses of the passengers inside as they flew off, but the few they did see were staring wide-eyed at Mifletset.

"They're so scared," Aeris murmured, facing the behemoth that continued to approach. "I guess they should be."  
>"Aren't you?" Tifa walked to the rail to stand beside her.<p>

The Ancient paused, drawing in a deep breath.

"I don't know. I haven't been able to feel anything in so long...maybe I _am_ scared."

Tifa looked at her for a moment, then reached over and gently took one of her hands in hers, lifting her free one up toward Mifletset.

"It's OK to be scared. Just remember you're never alone."

Closing her eyes, Tifa murmured a few words of prayer and exhaled, looking up in time to watch Odin split the sky.

Behind them, Barret gripped Yuffie by the arm and helped her back to her feet.

"You ain't got anything good on ya, do you?"  
>She shook her head. "I left my materia at home when they took me. Guess that was the only good thing about that night."<br>"Go look under the bed in the infirmary. Cid keeps a few spares in a box there."

Under any other circumstance Yuffie would have pointed out how stupid it was that Barret was willingly telling her where someone else hid their materia, but they were kind of in a hurry.

"Thanks," she ran for the door, all thoughts of stealing gone as the strategy for killing Mifletset began spreading an uneasy feeling throughout her body.

(It's just the airship,) she told herself, pausing to steady her stomach before pressing on to the bridge. (Just a little further and-.)

The familiar sound of a gun's hammer clicking into place behind her caught her attention, and she wasted no time freezing.

"What do you want?"  
>Rufus chuckled. "I think you know why I'm here, Yuffie. It's time to go."<p>

The ninja would have been afraid, if she weren't so angry. But she was pretty fucking angry.

"Mr. President?"  
>"Yes, Yuffie?"<br>"_Fuck_ you."

She spun to face him, and before he had time to realize what was happening Yuffie had knocked the gun from his hands and was planting her foot in the center of his chest. Rufus stumbled back, regaining himself just long enough to look at her with pure rage in his eyes.

"Fine then, we _won't _do this quietly."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

**A/N: Hope you peeps brought your helmets, it's about to get bumpy. ;D Leave a review before you go!**


	14. Chapter 14: Rapture

**A/N: I know it hasn't been a full week (or even a full 5 days) since the last update, but I figured since I waited so long to post the last one it would be OK to give up this one a little early! ;) Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it, not makin' any moolah from this.**

**Chapter Fourteen: Rapture**

It didn't take a genius to see Cait Sith was pretty much useless against Vecena without his mog.

After several minutes of casting spell after pointless spell while dancing around the quickly disintegrating room, the robot ran for the door.

"I'll go get Cloud-!"

His proclamation was cut short by Vecena holding out her hand and rattling off a fire spell that literally engulfed the cat mid-pounce. By the time the smoke cleared, Cait Sith was nothing but a pile of circuits sinking to the bottom of the flooded house. Sad as it was, if it was going to happen to any one of AVALANCHE it was good that it was Cait, simply because Reeve would have another prototype on its way to them in a matter of hours.

"Pathetic sith," Vecena grumbled, turning to Vincent. "Enough games. Where's the girl?"  
>"Why do you need her? She doesn't have the materia anymore."<br>"I highly doubt any of you took it from her," she came back, knowing he was lying. "Considering that since she's already used it, she can't separate from it."  
>"I don't understand-."<p>

"Of course you don't," she spat. "You couldn't _possibly_ know the depth of history surrounding Rebirth unless you were created from it, as I am."

Vincent stared at her and she flipped her staff down, crossing in front of him.

"Thousands of years ago the Ancients wrote about a dozen different materia that were unlike any other on the Planet; each one held its purpose in restoring peace to the world. In knowing about the White and Black materia you are aware of this. The next nine materia were grouped together into a weapon known as 'The Princess Guard.'"

"Aeris carried it for months, the orbs that were on it did nothing-."

"They did exactly what they were supposed to do. They brought luck, prosperity, and protection to your group as you carried the Princess with you. Now, years later when the threat of my presence has come about to plague your Planet, the materia have come together again to guard your precious Yuffie, going so far as to revive her original protector to keep her safe."

Vincent balked. "...Yuffie?"

Vecena laughed. "Don't tell me you didn't know, Vincent. Of all the idiots that dare oppose me, I had hoped _you_ wouldn't fall in line with them in terms of wit."

He didn't know how to respond. How could he? Over the last forty years Vincent had seen enough death and destruction to fill _ten_ lifetimes- enough suffering to last him this _one_ string of immortality. In learning how to protect his planet he had unintentionally become capable of understanding the mindset of the monsters he fought against and, on some level, could empathize with them. This, in turn, had driven him to study the Planet's history in more detail than he cared to admit. His mind was a volume of knowledge and yet, somehow, he'd known nothing of an 'Ancient Princess' to begin with, much less that it was someone he'd known for years and had become specifically attached to.

"That's eleven."

Vecena paused, and if she'd had a face Vincent was certain she would have looked confused.

"The Ancient Materia," he clarified, "you said there were a dozen. You've only listed eleven."

The villain seemed to hesitate, tilting her head slightly as she let out a soft, menacing chuckle.

"Oh, my dear Vincent, I forgot. You aren't aware of the Ancient Materia that makes you so, _so_ special..."

It had been a question meant to throw her off, but it turned out to be the perfect segue into her next attack. Vecena retracted and sheathed her staff, holding out both hands to him.

"Chaos."

Just like in the Forgotten City, the reaction was instant. Vincent lost his grip on Death Penalty and staggered back, suddenly finding it impossible to breathe.

_"She calls for me," _the demon growled inside his mind. _"And this time you will __not__ keep me from her!"_

Vincent dropped to his knees, the water so high now it reached his chest. He didn't notice it though, so wrapped up in the maelstrom of rage and power that had begun to course through his body that he wondered if he could even fight back.

"Tell me Vincent." Her voice was calm, but every word off her lips felt like a knife in his back, twisting deep into his heated flesh as all control slipped pitifully from his grasp. "What should I do to her first? Shall I kill her slowly? Or should I let her wait it out, let her see what I do to the rest of your friends?"

(Yuffie...)

He shook his head, hands gripping his skull as he leaned back against the wall.

"Stop..."

Vecena laughed again. "What is it, Vincent? Is it too painful to think of life without them? Without _her_?" She let out a short breath. "Don't think I didn't notice the way she waited for you- the way she _wanted _you to come for her." Walking the short distance between them, she leaned over his wrenching form. "I see right through both of you, Vincent Valentine. I see your passion, your pain...and I am going to _kill her._"

Vincent's vision blurred.  
>~<p>

_"Then I'm coming with you."_

_"Absolutely not."_

_He tried to get away from her, tried to force the point that he __wasn't __taking her with him by ignoring her as he went down the stairs, but she stayed right on his heels. When they entered the bar area he knew she'd stopped walking and turned to face her, seeing her glaring at him with her hands on her hips._

_"How are you going to track him?"  
><em>_"The same way I always track people- alone."  
>She pouted. "I'm way better at it, you know. I could help."<br>"I can't allow it."_

_He reached for his cloak, hoping to get it on before she could approach him again. She groaned and tossed her hands in the air._

_"I'm going with you-."  
><em>_"Yuffie." He lowered his voice, looking down at her in the dim candlelight. Did she have goosebumps?...Never mind. "You have to stay here."_

_Her mouth hung for a second, and she seemed to be distracted before she finally squeaked out, "Why?"_

_"Because." As he watched her, a strange, distantly familiar feeling washed over him, and he realized he __had __to protect her. Stepping the few feet between them, he softened his tone. "If Cloud is up to something, I can't risk you being in the middle of it. I need to move quickly, and for that to happen I can't have any distractions…understand?"_

_She stared at him blankly, and in an instant he knew something was happening. Her eyes, normally so bright and playful, were suddenly calm and dark as they looked back at him- looked __through__ him. They were two completely different people and yet they shared a deep, profound secret in the fact that they both knew something was going on- something wasn't right. _

_Then again, they'd always been this way- the two that just...happened. No great encounter had brought them into the group that was AVALANCHE, but they had found their way in nonetheless. It was almost as if they were their own little team._

_But something about this situation seemed to be more than just a late-night debate over what the hell Cloud Strife was up to. When he looked at her he felt something stir inside of him, when she spoke to him he felt...calm._

_...That was the first time he realized there was something lying deeper inside him for Yuffie Kisaragi.  
>~ <em>

Something inside the gunslinger snapped, and suddenly Chaos was quiet.

"You won't touch her," he murmured.  
>"What's that? I'm too busy thinking about murdering your friends to hear you."<p>

He lifted his head, reveling in the sight that was Vecena's faceless expression of surprise as she jumped back when she saw Vincent's eyes had gone completely black.

"You won't touch her," he repeated, standing upright. "You won't touch _any_ of them."

She held up her hands, but it was no use. Vincent reached up and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her out of the water.

"You won't hurt her anymore, not while I still breathe."

Everything he did was beyond him, and he didn't feel a thing even when his normally human hand began to turn into a claw.

"Chaos!" Vecena gasped, struggling to speak. "Chaos, release me!"

Before Vincent could crush her windpipe he felt consciousness slip from him, his body lifting from the water and vanishing into the air.

Vecena made her escape.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Houses fell apart into the water around them as Cloud and Nanaki continued to retreat up the coast, reaching the edge of the village and climbing out of the flood and onto the hill that overlooked the sea.

"This is a mess." Cloud shook his head, looking over the empty city with contempt. "One big, fucking mess."  
>"We got everyone out," Red countered. "If nothing else, that's the best thing that could have happened."<br>"Their homes are destroyed. They'll have to start over now."  
>"Do you really think that will be a problem?"<p>

The two looked at one another, sharing a short moment of tense silence before turning to Mifletset as it screeched behind them.

"It's too close to the ship." He deadpanned.  
>"The girls will be fine," the beast reassured him, shaking what little water that was left off of his fur. "They'll all be fine. We just need to try and help them bring it down."<p>

Again, silence. Neither of them even knew where to begin with a water-behemoth so big. It was completely see-through, the plain on the other side a distorted, refracted blur in the vision it displayed to them. They looked it over- it's head so high in the clouds it was almost level with the Shera as their friends continued to fight from the airship. Distantly Cloud could see the attacks- Odin disappearing back into the materia Tifa had called him from as the single most visible patch of sky closed up above them.

"Tifa," he whispered, hoping quietly that she was alright. It was unlike him to leave her alone at a time like this, but it was a choice he'd had to make- she wouldn't have been much safer on the ground.

(She'd have been safer with _you__,) _he tried to scold himself, but Nanaki interrupted his self-loathing.

"There, look."

The ex-SOLDIER snapped out of his daze to look at his friend, following his direction to the monster as it took another step toward the airship. As it lifted its foot, the space between that and it's ankle disintegrated for a few seconds, before reappearing as it returned to the ground.

"We need to attack it when it moves," he explained the plan simply. "Take out its legs so it can't walk." Looking back at him, he raised one furry brow. "What say you?

Cloud breathed in deeply, eyes never leaving the monster that continued to use water-attacks on the ship.

"I say we do what we can now before it takes out the ship."

Used to the Leader giving such vague answers, Nanaki nodded his head, shaking his hackles a bit before charging toward the enemy with a howl. Cloud was close behind him, pausing only to give one last longing glance at the airship above them, then drawing his sword and following after his friend.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

No one had any idea that there was a fight going on _inside _the ship.

"Stay the fuck down!" Yuffie screamed as she hit Rufus in the face for what felt like the fiftieth time.

The President obeyed, if only for a moment, reveling in the fact that he was making the ninja's blood boil with every retaliation.

"You can't win this," he laughed manically. "You are destined to lose."  
>"What the hell do you know about my destiny?" She snipped, leaning on her knees to catch her breath while back-stepping a few feet to put some distance between them.<p>

Rufus looked at her, spitting a mouthful of blood off to the side and pulled himself upright for round seven of their little face-off.

"I know that you are meant to bring me the ultimate power of the Planet- complete control over all the Lifestream."

"Please," she rolled her eyes, pulling Conformer back. "If there were a way to 'control' Lifestream, someone would have figured it out _way _before your stupid ass came along."

Her insults didn't faze him; he drew his remaining shuriken and fired them off at her one by one. She dodged the first two with ease, the third nicking her cheek while the fourth lodged in her shoulder.

"Shit!" She shrieked, swinging her weapon down and catching the President in the back when attempted to rush her. His white suit-coat, already tattered from fighting, laid open in wake of her blade. He stumbled off to the side.

"God-_damnit!_" He checked his wound and, seeing he wasn't bleeding, narrowed his eyes at her. "You'll pay for that."  
>"Oh yeah?" She popped an eyebrow, reaching up and jerking the shuriken from her flesh with little more than a wince. "You're gonna have to bring the heat then, bitch. 'Cause this back-and-forth shit just ain't doin' it for me."<p>

The two glared at each other, the action that was their two teams fighting outside the bridge window eluding their scope of attention as they refused to take their eyes off one another. It was evident that Rufus was relentless in his attempt to capture her, but it had become equally apparent that Yuffie would _not_be going without a fight, and at this rate- the only way the President was going to get her off the ship was if she were unconscious.

"He can't save you this time, you know," Rufus lowered his voice, drawing her focus. "By the time anyone on this ship realizes you haven't come back, you'll be gone. Do you really think they'll miss you?"

She furrowed her brow. Who the hell did he think he was, saying shit like that to her?

"They came after me once before, they would do it again- not that they'll have to," she retorted, tossing her bangs out of her eyes. "If I remember right, you had the same mindset _last_ time they showed up, didn't you? And now we have one more person on _our team_."

Rufus sneered, demeanor changing completely. He straightened up and reached into his coat.

"Oh, yes. I remember just fine, Princess. The Heart Materia was where we left off, wasn't it?"

Pulling his hand out between them, he revealed the pink orb in all its glory. Yuffie would have been scared, but she had no idea what else he could do with it.

"That thing is the reason we're all here in the first place."  
>"Not quite," stepping forward, he didn't wait to see if she would attack him- instead laughing when she instinctively backed away. "This materia- paired with the one I'm sure you still carry with you now, are the reasons your little Flower Girl is alive again."<p>

It wasn't what he was saying or the way he said it, but the look in his eyes that made Yuffie retreat. Before she could stop herself she was against the deck door, pushing it open to step outside onto the platform where the rest of her friends were.

"Yuffie!" Tifa started, pausing when she noticed the serious expression her face. "What's going on-?"

"I have the power to take back that which was given to you!" Rufus's voice preceded him as he entered the deck, materia in hand while he looked at his enemies before him- all four of them stopping their onslaught to stare at him.

"You." He turned to Aeris, holding the orb toward her. "_You_will return to the Lifestream where you belong!"

Aeris's green eyes went wide, but before she could run a white light shot out from the materia, enveloping her body and bringing her to her knees.

"Aeris, no!" Tifa yelled, rushing to her side and pulling her close.

Rufus cackled and Barret moved between them, holding his gun-arm up and firing away at the man without warning. The orb's light reflected back, guarding the President in an invisible shield of light and rendering the bullets useless as he continued to drain the life from Aeris.

"You cannot stop it," he looked to Yuffie, a sick smile playing over his lips. "I will only leave if _you_come with me."

It was a hopeless situation. The ninja opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Was this it? Was this really how things ended for their team? Her heart hitched in her chest and she stepped forward, expression weary with defeat as she started to mouth the words "I'll go."

But the words never reached her lips.

A loud, thunderous sound shot through the air around them, before coming to a head on the deck. Even Rufus stopped his advances to watch as Vincent materialized on the deck between them.

At least...it _appeared _to be Vincent.

"...The _fuck?" _Barret so eloquently stated what they were all thinking as their teammate, half-human, half-monster looked up, his black gaze quickly surveying the scene before coming to a rest on Yuffie.

"You're safe."

"Vincent!" Rushing forward, she reached him just as he attempted to stand and failed, dropping down into her arms. They crashed to the ground and she held him, looking past his disfigured face to the man she knew was beneath. "What the hell happened?"

"Vecena."

Her breath caught, and she looked at her friends, then to Rufus, who had returned to his soul-extracting. Aeris looked pitiful, eyes beginning to sink back into her head as she lowered it to the deck, releasing hope to the wind while everyone watched.

"The Spirit Materia."  
>Vincent's voice was barely a whisper, and Yuffie looked at him. "What?"<br>"The Spirit Materia," he repeated hoarsely. "He can't...he can't use it if...it isn't here."

Yuffie blinked, suddenly realizing the materia he spoke of was practically burning a hole through her pocket.

"I have it," she answered softly, looking up at the President. "I have the Materia."

Rufus looked at her, smirking. "I know. Thanks to you, I will soon have control over your friend's soul, you, and the Lifestream."

It didn't make sense, his plot. Then again, at this point in her life nothing was clear- not even why she was kidnapped. All Yuffie knew was that Vincent was halfway to Chaos and Aeris was dying, and something inside of her told her that just throwing the materia over the rail wasn't going to cut it.

"He can't have it," Yuffie looked back to Vincent, who was obviously struggling for control over his own body. "Vinnie, I can't let him take the materia- he'll kill everyone."

The gunslinger offered her nothing, and she gave one last look to her friends, knowing what she had to do. Gently sliding Vincent to the ground she stood, pulling the bright green orb from her pocket and waving it to catch the President's attention.

"Hey Rufus. Heart and Spirit only work when they're together, right?"

He narrowed his eyes, but didn't answer.

"Fine." She held it close, back-stepping away from the crowd. "You want it? Come and get it."

Yuffie turned, taking off at a full-on sprint, and threw herself over the railing of the airship.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

**A/N: So...I didn't really count Cait Sith as a character death. Mostly because Reeve is gonna have a new one up and running in a matter of days...but you know. Sorry if it upset anyone. XD**

**Also, the Ancient Materia reference in regard to Vincent is a hint at the events of Dirge of Cerberus- which hasn't happened at this point in time. I just thought I would clear that up in case anyone started getting ideas. I suppose I'll explain it more as I go. ;)**

**Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a review before you go! ~Ari**


	15. Chapter 15: Tidal

**A/N: Wow, a lot of reviews/visitors in such a short amount of time! :D Thanks guys! Enjoy Chapter Fifteen!**

**Disclaimer: You peeps know I don't own any of this.**

**Chapter Fifteen: Tidal**

Yuffie was gone.

"Holy shit!" Barret ran and looked over the side, unable to see anything through the clouds that hung below the ship.

Behind him, Aeris suddenly regained her ability to breathe, the life Rufus had been so diligently sucking from her returning instantly and knocking her back into Tifa, who caught her and looked to Vincent.

"Vincent!"

Her voice was strangled, panicked. The gunslinger had only begun to regain control over his own mind when the fact that was Yuffie's situation presented itself in full force.

"Yuffie." Pushing his mangled body to stand, he struggled to keep focus.  
>"You won't reach her in time," Rufus sneered, normally kept appearance nothing more than a battered mess after having lost one of the longest battles he'd ever fought. "She's better off dead, Valentine."<p>

He didn't listen, reaching up and pulling apart the buckles that held his cloak to let the thick fabric drop around his feet and reveal the dark, half-formed wings that protruded from his back.

"Aren't we all?"

Inhaling deeply, he used what energy he had left to rush the rail, jumping up onto the metal piping and catapulting himself off the edge, rocketing down toward the sea below.

"Oh my god," Tifa gasped, eyes moving from the place Vincent had just been to Barret, who only shook his head.

"Guess he's goin' to get her."

From the other side of the deck, the screeching of Mifletset drew them all back to the fight, though no one was prepared when they saw the monster was raising one watery fist to attack.

"Everyone get back." Aeris pulled herself up, ignoring Tifa's attempt to help her as she swiped her staff off the ground and faced the monster.

Rufus laughed. "What exactly do you plan to do, Aeris? Hit it?"

There was no warning. The Cetra turned and closed the distance between them in a few steps, swinging Princess Guard around and catching the President just under his jaw. The connection sounded out with a sickening crack, and Aeris didn't wait for him to hit the ground before spinning and shoving the hilt of it into his chest. He dropped back, the Heart materia clattering to the deck and rolling to a stop at the feet of its rightful owner.

"Piss off," she muttered, scooping the orb up and snapping it into place on her weapon before going back to the monster and holding it out. "Now- everyone down."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Yuffie was falling.

How long had she been spiraling through the air- five, ten minutes? Time seemed to move so slowly when you were plummeting to your death, and somehow the most important moments of your life seemed to flash by in a matter of seconds.

Her first ninjitsu lesson. Her first oversized shuriken. The first time Godo ever told her he loved her. The day her mother died. Her first kiss. Her first fight. Her first love. The day she learned what materia was. The day Godo told her the Wutai war was over. The day she ran away from home. The day she met AVALANCHE in the forest outside of Rocket Town...

The day she met Vincent Valentine.

(I wonder if he'll miss me?) She thought, cynically amused despite her situation. (I wonder if _any_ of them will? Damnit, Aeris had _better_ miss me. I swear if I have one of those out-of-body experiences after this and she _isn't _crying over my death at least once a week I'm going to be fucking pissed.)

She tried to breathe. Something about the angles she was flipping around at made it incredibly difficult to inhale, and yet she wasn't nauseous.

(At least I have that.)

It wasn't until she broke through the bottom of the clouds that the slightest twinge of fear began to spread through her. Whether it was the wind or just the way she'd thrown herself over the rail, she'd managed to drift her fall-line to the sea. The water looked black from her position above it, the depths invisible to her naked eye, waves rising and falling with the breeze. A dark, cold way to die, she felt.

(It could have been worse.)

Turning her gaze to the sky, Yuffie could barely make out the Shera as it continued to hover in front of Mifletset. Would her friends win, she wondered? Aeris would be OK now that the Spirit materia was away from her, right? If Yuffie hadn't jumped, would they have even been able to hang around each other anymore?

(Of course we would. It wasn't a problem _before _Rufus showed up with the Heart materia. Maybe we just need to get it away from him-.)

She cut herself off when the fact that she was about to die came crashing back into her mind. Damn her early demise- had there _really _not been enough time for her to grab a parachute?

(No use in worrying about it now.)

She sighed...or tried to, anyway. A good, full breath continued to elude her even as she began to taste the salt in the air coming up from the water.

(I wonder how bad this is going to hurt...) She winced, shutting her eyes. (Maybe if I don't look it won't be as bad.)

As she squinted to keep the wind from prying her lids back open, she swore she could distantly hear the sound of something...rustling.

(Must be the wind.)

A few seconds passed, and the noise got louder- _closer. _Eventually she couldn't ignore it anymore. Looking up, she finally found enough air to gasp in a full breath.

"Vincent?"

He was a good hundred feet above her- how the hell had he closed the distance so fast?

(Forget _that_-.) For the first time since she'd started her journey downward, Yuffie began to feel an overwhelming sense of fear. (I wanna _live!)_

She looked to the water, then back up to him. All at once, every minute she'd been living since the day she met Vincent washed over her in one cold wave.

Finding him in his coffin. Fighting beside him battle after battle on their road to Sephiroth. Crying into his cloak the night Aeris was murdered. How happy she was to see him when they came to save her from Don Corneo. Working together to evacuate Midgar before Meteor hit. Picking him up to go fight Bahamut SIN in Edge. Moving into the room next to him in Rocket Town...

The day he left. And every godforsaken, gut-wrenching feeling she'd had toward him since the night he looked her in the eyes and muttered the words "I'll be back soon."

She couldn't control it anymore; she started screaming.

The air went from cold to freezing as they neared the water, and Vincent was still gaining speed. Pouring every bit of strength and focus he had into his acceleration, it was a matter of seconds before he was practically on top of her, arms circling her small frame and snatching her out of her insane free-fall to cling to his chest.

Her face hit his skin and she went quiet. For a moment he worried she was unconscious, until he felt her fingers lace around his waist. Still, she never said a word.

"Hold on," he instructed firmly. Turning his chin down, he spread the leathery wings that had been tucked carefully against his back and caught the air that rose up to meet them, jerking their decent to a screeching halt as they shot back up into the sky.

Yuffie choked, head twisting around as she surveyed the surface below them.

"You can _fly_?"  
>"Not quite." Even <em>he <em>was disappointed in the realization that they were about to be in the water, but at least he'd saved them from the worst. "Take a deep breath, it's going to be cold."  
>"Oh sh-."<p>

Her voice was cut off when his wings chose that moment to fold down around them, and they plummeted the rest of their thirty-foot drop into the sea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>"Mother of Shiva."<p>

Nanaki slid to a halt, Cloud close behind him as the two looked up in horror at the monster that was readying to take out the ship.

"Why doesn't Cid _move it?_" Cloud couldn't help but yell into the sky, wishing the old Pilot would hear him.  
>"He can't outmaneuver it. It's a behemoth." Red continued to be logical, though inside his heart was pounding. He didn't want them to go down anymore than his human friend did. "They need a shield."<p>

The ex-SOLDIER paused, an idea striking him suddenly that spurred him forward. Looking to his gauntlet, he checked his materia and stretched out his arm.

"I can't cast a shield from here, but I can help them fight back."

Making a fist, he shut his eyes for a brief moment before snapping them back open, lowering his head.

"Bahamut."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Tifa and Barret looked at each other, speechless, but did as they were told, moving in behind Aeris and crouching close to the ground.

The Ancient gripped her staff, shutting her eyes and muttering a short prayer, then stretching one hand out.

"Shield."

If the situation hadn't been so messed up already, her friends might have wondered why she was being so careful with such a simple spell- or how she was casting it at all; with only one materia that no one really knew was capable of doing anything other than sucking the life out of people.

But not only were they too preoccupied with Mifletset's fist coming toward them to think on much else, they quickly began to notice that the spell she was casting was _far_ from simple. From the center of her staff a pink light began to glow, quickly spreading from her to the two behind her, then to the ship, until a giant wall had formed between the Shera and the monster.

There was a moment of complete silence in the air where not even the engines of the airship could be heard. For a second Tifa was sure she'd gone deaf, until she dared to whisper.

"Aeris?"

And then the demon hit.

The barrier was far, far above them, rippling into pieces as it deflected the blow, but as the wave coursed downward a thunderous sound followed, shaking the surface they stood on.

"It's gonna rip the ship apart!" Barret yelled, but Aeris didn't waver.  
>"Hold on!"<br>"To what?"

She ignored him, gripping her staff again and spinning it overhead. Instantly the shield dissipated, taking the tremor with it and leaving them safe, but unguarded on the deck.

"It's going to attack again," she deadpanned, turning to her friends as they stood up.  
>"Then we'll have to hit it first this time." Tifa came back, checking her materia and looking at Barret. "What do you have?"<br>"A master-lightning and Ifrit." He shook his head. "No good."  
>"Odin's maxed out." Tifa's gaze shifted to Aeris. "You got any more tricks up your sleeve?"<br>"Afraid not." She sighed, shoulders slumping and face falling. "It's a come-and-go thing."  
>"Hold on," Barret grumbled, jogging to the door that led inside and flipping open the panel next to it. Pulling a small walkie from the box, he clicked it on. "Cid!"<p>

Static, and then the Pilot's scratchy voice came through. "The fuck are you guys doing up there? Did you see that pink light-?"

"Long story, listen- we need you to move the ship before this thing hits again, we're low on juice and-."  
>"Barret!"<p>

He stopped at his name, grumbling under his breath as he looked over to the women in front of him...instantly seeing what they wanted him to see.

Between the ship and Mifletset, Bahamut slid into view- dark, leathery wings spread wide as it shielded the team and prepared to attack.

"Where did it come from?" Aeris wondered aloud.  
>"Cloud," Tifa replied quietly, not caring how obviously reverent it sounded.<p>

Barret smirked, clicking the walkie back on.

"Nevermind, Cid. We're good."  
>"The hell's goin' on out there-?"<p>

He hung up, walking back to his teammates as they waited for the dragon-god to finish the battle.

"Enjoy this victory, AVALANCHE, it will be your last!"

They all turned at the sound of Rufus's raspy voice, not all that surprised to find a ShinRa-issued helicopter hovering beside the deck. Inside, Reno and Rude were waiting to help him on. He stepped over the airship rail, making the cross over smoothly before looking back at his enemies.

"Until next time."

None of them said a word- none of them wanted to. The only satisfaction any of them received was when Reno finally looked over and saw Aeris standing calmly below him.

"What the _fuck_?" He mouthed, forgetting about his boss altogether as the man sat down beside him and shut the door, waving helicopter away.

"Goddamn ShinRa," Barret muttered, looking to the Flower Girl. "You alright?"

She nodded, cutting her gaze down hesitantly.

"I hope Yuffie and Vincent are alright."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

The blast that shot out from Bahamut shortly after it entered the clouds was enough to light up the entire sky. At first, the streaks of energy could have easily been mistaken for lightning, but as they penetrated Mifletset, spiraling down to the demon's core and literally shredding it apart, it was more than apparent that the light that shone through the clouds was more than just a late-afternoon thunderstorm.

Yuffie would have breathed a sigh of relief, had she been able to feel anything below her neck.

"V...V...Vincent..." She managed, looking to the man beside her as they swam along. "Are you o...o...OK?"

He glanced back at her, the blackness of Chaos that had once been blatant in his eyes now much dimmer as he'd began to regain control.

"I'm fine, Yuffie. Are you?"  
>"I'm alive." She blurted out, stutterlaughing at the fact. "So yeah, just peachy."

A few more feet of slow paddling and Vincent slid in front of her.

"Get on my back."  
>She startled. "Vincent, no-."<br>"Trust me. We'll get to shore much faster this way."

If she hadn't been so damn cold, she might have argued...but she was pretty fucking cold.

Swallowing her pride, Yuffie drew in a breath and reached up to wrap her arms around his shoulders, pulling herself in close to his back. His skin was bare, but he was warm, for having been swimming in the sea as long as they'd been.

(Maybe it's Chaos keeping his blood warm.) She tried to explain it inwardly, though she didn't really care. The point of the matter was that he was warm, and she was not.

Another bright flash as Bahamut disappeared from the sky, and suddenly it seemed very, very dark in Costa del Sol.

"It won't be long before they land the ship." Vincent's deep voice kept her from thinking about the ice-water around them. "We need to get to shore before the behemoth pulls a wave in."

She would have asked him what he was talking about, but before she could, a sudden rush of riptide began to slam against them. Vincent swam alongside it with ease, the coast becoming more visible as the sea ran out around them, retreating as if it were trying to get back to where it belonged. When they finally reached the sand, the shoreline was almost where it had began, leaving the destroyed village to dry in its ruin.

The moment her feet hit solid ground Yuffie collapsed, resisting the urge to kiss the grime beneath her as flopped down on top of it.

"So...happy..."  
>"Don't get too comfortable, the water will be coming back soon."<p>

She looked up at him, surprised to see that he looked amused despite his serious tone. He turned toward the village, shaking out the wings that had become considerably smaller since she'd first seen them.

"How long will you have those?" She asked, pushing herself to sit on her backside as she wiped off her legs.  
>"Don't know." He shrugged, gathering his long raven locks in both hands and pulling them to the side to wring out. "Sometimes it's a few hours. Sometimes it's a few days."<p>

Yuffie watched him quietly. Never, in all the years she'd known him, had she seen Vincent turn into Chaos so randomly. Then again, she hadn't actually _been _there when he transformed, so maybe it wasn't so random...

"Why did you turn?"

The question was out before she could stop it, but it didn't matter. He didn't answer anyway. Used to this sort of response from him, the ninja sighed calmly and drew her knees in, resting her arms across the top as she watched him finish his simple way of drying off.

His hair was so long now. Much longer than it was when they'd first met, even longer than it had been a couple years ago. Did he care anything about that? Would he cut if he ever got the chance to? Did it feel nearly as silky as it looked right now...?

Vincent turned suddenly, catching Yuffie's awkward gaze and returning it, expressionless. She swallowed hard and twisted back to the water, eyes scanning over the sea as she prayed to the gods he couldn't see how red her face was getting.

"It's time to go."  
>She looked at him again, this time seeing the Shera landing off in the distance behind the village.<p>

"I don't see why we're in such a hurry," she mumbled, stretching her legs out one last time before starting to get up. "It isn't like _she's _still here."

Reaching her feet, Yuffie stepped toward Vincent to follow him up the coast when suddenly the sand gave way beneath her shoes. Pitching forward, a gasp was all she could get out to warn him- but it was enough. The gunslinger spun around, catching her gently before she could face-plant into the ground. Gripping under her arms he moved toward her, letting her instinctively brace herself against his chest as she regained her footing.

The moment she got a grip on her balance, Yuffie looked up at him. Vincent never said a word, dark eyes calm and patient as he waited for her to stand on her own again, but the moment their stares connected she wasn't entirely sure she could. In fact, her legs almost felt _weaker_.

"Are you alright?"

His voice was low, and it was all she could do to pull away from him to hold herself, once again blessing the darkness for hiding her red face and the rapidly developing goosebumps on her skin.

"I'm fine, thanks," she whispered in a tone that said she definitely was _not_fine, but he didn't press it, instead watching her avert his gaze nervously for a bit longer.

They stood for what felt like an eternity, and just when Yuffie was sure she couldn't take it anymore, Vincent turned from her and gazed at the sea.

"Do you know what happens when too much water returns to the sea at one time, Yuffie?"

She looked at him, confused, but thankful for a distraction as she followed his direction to look at the water.

"It comes back," she answered softly.  
>"It comes back," he echoed. "And it's up to one-hundred-fold stronger than it was before it left. It travels farther, faster, and stays inland much longer than it normally does." He breathed in deeply. "For some areas of our Planet, this is a good thing. Plains that don't get much rain finally have water. Forests near the mountains thrive. Villages like North Corel and Cosmo Canyon don't have to send people miles away to bring water to their homes- if only for a little while."<p>

There was a moment of silence, but Yuffie didn't dare to speak. Vincent kept talking.

"On the other hand, when the water comes in- like it will be doing here very soon- villages like Costa del Sol and Mideel and Gongaga...they aren't so fortunate. Preventative measures are always taken, but they don't always work to protect the ones that love the sea most."

It was the way he said it that got her attention, and she looked out of the corner of her vision to see his eyes had shifted to her.

"In the end, it seems that people are just better off living away from the seas, away from the oceans. Even those who live in the deserts seem content with their occasional spells of rain. Living so close to something that could potentially destroy everything you love in life...it just isn't worth it."

The sky was completely dark now, and she was shaking with the cold. She didn't care.

"Why did you turn into Chaos?"

She was aware of the question this time, and this round she wanted an answer.

Vincent blinked, relaxing his shoulders back. "She threatened to kill all of you-."  
>"<em>All <em>of us?"

He looked at her, a twinge of surprise in his face as they both dared to confront the giant question that had been hanging between them for nearly two days now.

Naturally, they did no such thing.

"The others are here."

Yuffie turned her head, seeing the bright glow of Nanaki's tail as he came to the hill overlooking the village. Though she couldn't see everyone else, she knew they were probably with him.

Deeming the conversation finished, Vincent started toward the town. Yuffie furrowed her brow, swallowing the lump in her throat long enough to call after him.

"Vincent."  
>He stopped, but didn't turn around.<br>"Why does the sea come back so much stronger?" Her voice was just loud enough for him to hear. Why come back at all? Why risk hurting the ones that have been faithful to it for so long just to go further to places it's never been before?"

He was silent for a short time, the sounds of their friends' voices becoming distantly audible before he finally gave up the question with a soft exhale.

"Who can understand the sea, Yuffie? It doesn't even control its own path...but you can see what it longs for by the way the waves reach up for the sky."

She shut her eyes, his words unintentionally unlocking something even deeper inside of her as she absorbed his twisted analogy of their lives, then slowly made her way up the coast behind him.


	16. Chapter 16: Coasting

**A/N: ****Yes, ****yes, ****I ****know. ****I'm ****gone ****for ****a ****while, ****come ****back, ****gone ****for ****a ****while, ****come ****back. ****But ****I ****have ****a ****good ****excuse! ****I ****just ****moved ****across ****the ****country ****to ****a ****new ****job. ****:) ****I'm ****finally ****settling ****in, ****so ****hopefully ****the ****updates ****will ****be ****a ****little ****smoother ****the ****next ****couple ****of ****months. ****Thank ****you ****all ****SO ****much ****for ****your ****support ****and ****reviews/adds! ****It ****really ****means ****a ****lot ****to ****me. ****Happy ****reading!**

**Disclaimer**: **Y'all ****know ****I ****don't own ****this. ****I ****only ****WISH ****someone ****would ****pay ****me ****to ****write ****it. ****;D**

**Chapter Sixteen: Coasting**

AVALANCHE stood on the edge of Costa del Sol, watching the water.

"A wave is coming." Nanaki said softly. "We should move to higher ground."

"We could take one of the spare life-ships out," Cid offered. "I'll put Shera in underwater mode- she'll be fine 'til we get back."

Yuffie looked at him. "Couldn't we just take her out now?"

He shook his head. "Not enough power; she needs engine work. That waterbug took a lot out of her when it hit- Aeris's shield was the only thing that saved us from completely goin' down."

It was quiet. Since they'd defeated Mifletset, the plain had become impossibly calm. They had regrouped somewhat awkwardly, taking a moment to let Vincent explain exactly where Cait Sith was before moving to the overlook. Until now, that had been the most anyone had said. Above them, the stars were out and the air was beginning to get warm again. It most certainly didn't seem like a tsunami was about to happen.

"I'm still waitin' for an explanation on that," Barret mumbled to the Ancient beside him, but she paid him no mind.

Tifa, noticing the silence, stepped in good-naturedly. "I'm sure she'll tell us all about it when we're somewhere safe and she's ready, right Aeris?"

"I can stop the wave."

Despite the fact that Nanaki's tail was the only illumination between the eight of them, they all managed to stare at her in the dim light.

Cloud furrowed his brow. "Aeris, what-."

"I can," she stepped to the front of the group and started down the embankment. "I know I can."

No one knew what to say. As crazy as it sounded, after her stunt on the airship no one questioned her. They just followed after until they reached the shore, watching as the Cetra made her way out into the water with her staff.

As she entered, Aeris paused to catch the breath that left her when the cold hit her legs. Had Costa del Sol ever been this chilly before? The water, usually so serene and peaceful, had become aggressive and choppy, the darkness of its depths nearly swallowing her whole as she continued into it. The only thing to remind her that it was indeed water were the whitecaps that continuously broke around her knees...thighs...hips.

When she was about waist deep she stopped, looking over the expanse of dark nothingness before her and sucking in a shaky breath.

Did she really know what she was doing?

Gripping Princess Guard, she held it parallel to the ground and narrowed her eyes, focusing on the horizon.

"Please," she whispered. "This village has lost enough for one day."

Stretching it above her head she waved it slowly, not certain what was going to happen, but feeling she was doing the right thing. After the third turn, the Heart materia began to glow again, and a pink light spread from its center to her body, then into the water below.

On the beach, Yuffie held her breath. Was _this_ what the materia was meant for? It couldn't be _all_ bad, if this was what happened when the right person held it. And having it around the Spirit materia must not be a total recipe for death, considering she still had the orb in her pocket.

Sliding her hand down, Yuffie located the green rock in her pocket and wrapped her fingers around it carefully. It warmed to her touch.

(So much power,) she thought. (And it's all so close to falling into the wrong hands.)

She looked back to the Ancient in front of her with a sigh, watching with anticipation as the pink light danced further and further away from the shore, until the entire surface shimmered as far as the eye could see. The wave- which at that point had only _begun_ to swell- was barely visible in the patches of lightning that flashed high above its surface. As soon as the light touched it, it leveled out with the rest of the water, and the sea became calm.

The silence that followed dragged along for some time, but eventually Aeris turned to face them.

"There," she said quietly, sloshing back to shore. "Now, let's start a fire. It's still chilly out here and Yuffie, Vincent and I are all soaking wet."

"I'll bet Reeve is pissed."

Nanaki glanced at Cid as the old pilot relaxed back, resting against the brick wall that lined the town behind them whilst blowing cigarette smoke into the fire.

"This will be the fourth model he's lost in the last two years," Red agreed. "He is never pleased when these things happen."

"He should start fightin' himself then, if he's so damn worried about it," Barret grumbled, poking the red-hot logs with a stick. "He can't run a city with one hand and fight against it wit' the other. Sooner or later he's gonna haveta pick."

Cloud chuckled softly, leaning against one of the large stones they'd moved to use as seats around the fire. It had been a long time since any of them had actually seen Reeve Tuetsi: the great "leader behind the leader" of Edge/Old Midgar. He'd supposedly taken over Foreign Relations after the attack of Kadaj and his gang years ago, but everyone knew he kept himself busy running the city under Rufus ShinRa's flighty feet.

At least, everyone in _AVALANCHE_ knew that.

"Reno and Rude seemed very upset when they saw him," Vincent's deep tone brought Cloud out of his mulling, and the two looked at one another. "Reno asked him to give his best to Elena."

Cloud blinked. "Elena, as in- one of _their_members Elena?"  
>"It appears she is no longer with them."<br>"But she's with Reeve," Cid grumbled. "Now don't that just make not a damn bit a' sense."

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Cid." Nanaki turned his furry gaze to the two women that sat on the other side of the fire. "It is incredibly strange that Elena would leave the Turks to begin with, but for Reeve to even consider keeping company with her?"

The inflection in his voice was aimed at Tifa, but she only shook her head.

"I haven't spoken to Reeve in over a year now. At least, not in person. I have no video why they would be together."

Everyone took a moment to glance around curiously at one another. Of course, no one knew what was going on, so they all went back to their private small-talk, enjoying the peace they had finally reached after such a long day.

Cloud exhaled slowly, deciding he wanted to just enjoy listening for once. Times like this in their group- when they _were_a group- were few and far between.

Looking across the flames he watched Aeris and Tifa as they talked quietly. Aeris was more or less dry now, a smile gently playing over her pretty face as she listened to Tifa talk about...whatever they were talking about.

Tifa.

The younger woman chose that moment to look over at the ex-SOLDIER, her calm, knowing gaze locking onto him, filling him with serenity. Cloud exhaled deeply. She was always so good at that.

"Where's Yuffie?"

Vincent's deep voice startled him, and he snapped out of his Tifa-induced trance to turn and look at the gunslinger beside him.

"What?"  
>"Yuffie," he repeated. "Have you seen her?"<br>"Not since the ocean, no." Cloud shook his head, glancing around for any sign of said ninja. "Have you checked on the Shera?"  
>"She wouldn't have gone that far." He sounded perturbed as he stood, red eyes glittering in the firelight as he scanned their surroundings. After a few moments he inhaled. "I'll find her."<br>Cloud went to get up. "I'll help you-."

"That won't be necessary," he cut him off, waving his clawed hand beside him. "I believe I know where she is."

With a hum the blonde thumped back down, offering nothing more than a shrug to the other AVALANCHE members when they sent him questioning looks. It was Yuffie and Vincent they were dealing with here; who the hell could possibly know what was going on?

Vincent walked quietly away from the group, away from the fire, away from the small security that was the camp they had made. After a few minutes, only the sound of the ocean kept him company, the stark moonlight and the cold breeze from the water nipping over his skin like a wet blanket- he didn't mind it though. It was who he was, what he was used to. That, and he knew he wasn't far from her.

Yuffie's slight figure came into focus shortly after all signs of their teammates disappeared in the darkness behind him. She became his focal point for walking, and didn't seem to notice him until he was practically next to her where she sat on the beach, knees drawn into her chest as she stared out at the water. Even then, she barely regarded him.

"Nice night," she murmured idly.

"You're a long way from camp, Yuffie," he started. "Too far for-."

"For my safety." She finished. "I know, I'm sorry." Rocking to her feet, she brushed her shorts off. "Let's go back then."

Vincent looked at her, seeing a hint of suppressed angst in her gaze as she watched him. She wanted to spat, but was holding back. Fine. He could play.

"What are you doing all the way out here?"  
>She paused, tilting her head slightly. "Sitting?"<br>"Yuffie."

"I needed some air." She winced, waving her hands in front of her as if to wipe away the previous statement before placing them on her hips and turning away. "I mean...you know. Not... camp-fiery air. My head's sort of muddled right now."

"Oh?"

Yuffie snorted, cutting her eyes to him but not moving her head. "You're a real interrogator tonight, aren't you Vinnie?"  
>"You're upset with me."<br>She hummed contemplatively. "I usually am."

The way she quirked her lips when she said it was what got him. That strange, twisting feeling surged to life inside of him, and it was all he could do to start back toward the camp.

"I'll try to be better."  
>Yuffie sighed, rolling her eyes as she walked after him. "I'm sure you will."<p>

They trudged on silently for a minute or so, before the ninja cleared her throat.

"So. It looks like the Heart materia won't be hurting Aeris anymore."

"I suppose not." Vincent turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. "You did a brave thing, jumping off the ship."  
>"A little careless, I think."<br>"Brave nonetheless."  
>"Sure."<p>

They kept walking, Yuffie grumbling inwardly as she watched the leading form of Vincent's back. His wings were even smaller now, almost Cupid-sized. She couldn't really see how they went into his body for all the obscuring shreds of shirt that still clung to him, but from the way his shoulders tensed when he moved, she could only guess it was uncomfortable.

"Do they hurt?" She started, then shook her head and tried again when he hummed in question. "The wings. When they go back in, does it hurt?"

He paused. "Sometimes."

The wind from the water chose that moment to pick up, sending a nice chill over the beach. Vincent didn't seem to notice, but Yuffie stopped, still slightly damp clothes feeling like ice against her skin. Letting out a small whimper, she wrapped her arms around herself and ducked her head against the breeze.

He'd gone a few steps further before finally realizing she wasn't on his heels. He turned to her.

"Are you alright?"  
>"I'm fine," she answered quickly. "Just cold. My clothes are still wet and my body is aching from all that acrobat flipping I did when I was falling."<p>

Without hesitation, Vincent reached to his belt and retrieved the cloak he had hung there to wait while the rest of him dried. Pulling it free he shook it open, closing the distance between them in a few steps to drape it around her. She didn't resist- like she could anyway- instead leaning closer to him when he began buckling the front. She was shivering now but it wasn't because of the cold.

"Thank you," she said softly.  
>"I wasn't using it."<br>"I meant for saving me. For jumping off the ship and...saving my life."

He started at her, and she dared to turn her gaze up after a moment. It wasn't until she looked at him that she realized his hands were still on the cloak buckles resting just below her neck.

...Enter the goosebumps.

"Would you have still jumped if you hadn't been sure you could fly?"  
>"I <em>couldn't <em>fly."  
>"You know what I mean-."<br>"Yuffie."

The tone in his voice was what made her listen. It wasn't angry, or mean, it was...sad. Like he was pleading with her. Even still, she couldn't help it.

"What do you want from me?" She whispered.

He was quiet for a while, then breathed in deeply. "I want to keep you safe. To figure out what's going on and...why Vecena calls you the Ancient Princess."

Thank you, Vincent, for blindsiding the conversation.

"What...?"  
>"It's hard to explain-."<br>"'Ey!"

Barret's voice was an unwelcome interruption even from a distance, but they looked at him nonetheless.

"The hell are you two doin' over there? C'mon back so we can figure out what we're doin' next!"

They looked at him, the to each other.

"Fine." Yuffie sighed. "I guess I'll hear it along with everyone else."

She went to move, but stopped when she felt Vincent's hands were _still_on the cloak. Before she could stop herself, instinct took over and she reached up, taking his hand gently and pulling it away. Apparently the gunslinger had been unaware of his actions, but the moment her cold skin touched his, he realized he didn't want to move. So they stood, her hand awkwardly holding his as he continued to watch her, but this time she couldn't look back. Not only was this situation screaming 'insanity' from her subconscious; she'd also begun shaking.

"Are you still cold?" He asked softly.  
>"No."<p>

The reply was more of a confession than anything, but the moment was short-lived.

"D'yall hear me?"

"Yes!" Yuffie yelled. Barret raised an eyebrow, then let out a snort while muttering something under his breath as he walked back to the fire. By the time Yuffie had turned her attention to Vincent again he'd released her hand.

"We should go."  
>She nodded. "We should."<p>

As if to defy their own agreement, the two stood in silence for nearly a minute longer before Yuffie, unable to take it anymore, started back for the group. Vincent waited a few seconds longer, a thoughtful look fixed on his handsome fave as he watched her go until finally he muttered.

"I still would have jumped."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Campfire conversation was just as sparse as it had been _before_Vincent left. Even when the ex-Turk told the others about Vecena's declaration to Yuffie's royalty status, the reactions were tame.

"That explains why she's trying to kidnap her." Cloud muttered.  
>"It still doesn't explain Aeris though," Nanaki countered. "Why did she need Yuffie to bring her back?"<br>"Why does she need _both_ of us to control the Lifestream?" The Ancient tagged on. "Why does she need _me_ at all?"

"All of these sound like questions we can find answers for in Nibelheim," Tifa's weary voice cut through the chatter. "I think, for now, we should all get some rest and regroup in the morning when we're more collected and calm."

"I'm with her," Cid moaned as he stood, stretching. "Today's been long enough without havin' to sit here another hour talkin' about it like we all need therapy. I'm gettin' too old for this shit."

"I'm feeling too _gross_ for this shit," Yuffie grumbled. "My hair smells like bad sushi and my skin's starting to feel crusty."

She'd been talking to herself, but Cid rolled his eyes. "Well, sorry 'bout your luck, _Princess_, but the generators on board are down- meaning no runnin' water."  
>"Boo."<p>

"I'm sure some of the houses on higher ground still have working water," Red suggested. "Maybe the ones in the villa we stayed in when we came here years ago?"  
>"That might work, if I can find it."<p>

"I'll walk ya to it," Barret stood up, "I took Marlene and Myra there last year; I'm pretty sure I can find it in the mess."

"In the meantime," Cid went on, "I'm gonna need a hand gettin' enough steam in the engine to  
>at least get some light on board. Anybody got water or fire materia?"<p>

"I do." Tifa and Cloud replied in unison, smiling awkwardly at each other afterward.

Cid shook his head. "Fine then, nitwits. C'mon and help. Maybe by the time little miss loud-mouth is finished preening we'll at least be able to see where the hell we're walkin'."

The couple stood to follow him, and Cloud paused to look at Red and Vincent.

"You two watch Aeris. I think it's become apparent we shouldn't leave her or Yuffie alone."

"Whatever," Yuffie snorted, crossing her arms as she followed Barret away.

Aeris chuckled. "Thanks. I think between an ex-Turk and the Elder of Cosmo Canyon I should be fine."

Cloud smiled, glancing between Nanaki and Vincent to receive their nods of affirmation, then walked after Cid and Tifa.

The three sat in stoic silence for quite some time, each of them settled in their own brand of contentment as they watched the fire turn slowly to embers. Finally, Nanaki moved to retrieve another piece of dry driftwood, and Aeris looked at him.

"Do you think we should try to find Cait Sith's...well, _body_, before the new one gets here?"  
>"Why?" His voice was muffled by the tinder.<br>She flinched, embarrassed. "I don't know...I was thinking we could bury it."

Nanaki paused to look hard at her through his good eye. He'd never heard Aeris make a weird joke before, but with a suggestion like that he wasn't entirely sure she wasn't trying to.

His blank stare only made her feel worse, and- oddly enough- Vincent caught on to the uneasiness quickly.

"You wish to respect the robot consciousness that was lost."  
>She breathed out, relieved. "Yes."<p>

Red stood for a second longer, then tossed the log onto the fire.

"I suppose it wouldn't be a bad idea. This Sith has been the longest running model since...well, the Ancient Temple."

Aeris smiled, despite how uncomfortable that thought made her. "I always did like that one."

"Then we should find it, perhaps in hiding his body we'll prevent any subconscious scarring to the new one."

He stood to walk into the village and the Flower Girl shirked, trying quickly to mask her emotions but failing. Beside her, Vincent rose, calling after their four-legged friend, "It should be the third house on the right, near the end of the street."

Red followed the directions without a reply. Aeris sighed and stood to follow, but was stopped when Vincent held his clawed hand in front of her.

"He does not mean to be cold."

She furrowed her brow. "I know, Vincent. I just...a lot has changed since...I was here last."

"We all changed when you were murdered." He deadpanned. "Some of us more than others. Nanaki cared for you almost as much as he did for Bugenhagen, and other than the group we're with now, I doubt he's cared for any human as much since. His longevity plagues him, and his connection to the Spirit world has made his view of life and death much different from ours."

Aeris quirked her lips. "It seems all three of us would have a different view of death than the rest of the world."

He hummed in reply, retracting his hand before leading the way into the village. The Ancient exhaled deeply, smoothing her skirt as she trailed behind him.

It took them a few minutes to find the Elder, mainly because by the time they reached the house he'd retrieved the robot corpse and left, moving down a nearby alleyway to a grassy area facing the plain just outside the village. His fiery tail gave him away, and when they were close enough to see him, they found he'd almost finished digging a decent-sized grave.

They approached him, stopping on either side of the hole to look down at the mangled mess of burnt hardware that was Cait Sith. It was a sad sight; oddly heart wrenching even as Red finished his groundwork and moved to retrieve him, taking caution to not pull the metal apart any more than it already was. However, before he could lower him down, Aeris stepped forward.

"Wait." Then, in a lower voice, "...we should wrap him in something."

Red looked at her, then to Vincent. Oh, the things they did to please the ones they loved.

Without much thought Vincent removed his head and, knowing out of the three of them he was the only one with cloth to spare. Nanaki turned to him, gently releasing Cait into the open fabric before moving to let Aeris step in and take it. She pulled the robot close, wrapping it carefully before giving it back to Vincent, who moved to set it in the grave. When he was finished the three stepped back, quiet enveloping them once more as they each wondered how to continue this tiny, barely significant funeral.

"He was with us for nearly two years," Nanaki started. "He came...right after ShinRa had staged a raid on old Kalm, attempting to assassinate a man who was trying to lead a gathering to overthrow the President. The one before him had been...'shut down'...in the struggle, and the new one- _this_one- came almost a day later, sending us a message saying everything was going to be fine..." He paused contemplatively. "He was the first model I'd met that did that- say something... Hopeful. The first one since the Golden Saucer model, anyway."

A few seconds of pause, and Vincent cleared his throat.

"He always seemed to know the value of our group's friendship, even though he wasn't around when we were actually together. He understood how important it was for us to be together when it mattered, and he acknowledged the significance of the matter when Aeris was resurrected. He was very kind."

Despite the lack of emotion in his tone, his words seemed genuine enough for Aeris. The Ancient spoke last, a look of jaded sadness in her eyes as she looked at the crimson-covered Sith.

"We all want something out of life. To be significant, to fit in, to have peace... No one knows what Cait Sith wanted- if he even _did_want anything. His sole purpose for being was to live for others. To intervene where no one else could, and try to make sense of things when everyone around him was just as lost." She sniffled, voice wavering. "He didn't complain. Never asked questions... He just went along, driven by something much stronger than himself to carry out orders he had no hand in making...and when the time came, he died. Just like that." Pausing to catch her breath, she shook her head. "But you don't get a second chance, Cait. You just get replaced...and for that, I'm sorry."

She continued to stare at the grave, wiping tears from her face while Red and Vincent exchanged looks. Neither of them really knew what to say. After a minute of silence, Red began to bury the body.

"We should probably go back to the fire," Aeris breathed, finally gaining control of her emotions. "I'm sure Barret and Yuffie are back by now."

Vincent nodded, and as soon as Nanaki had finished replacing the dirt they left, walking in silence to the camp to find it was just as they'd left it: empty.

Red glanced around. "Perhaps they got lost?"

"I remember where the villa is." Vincent looked to the city. "I'll go and make certain they're alright."

"I'm sure they are," Aeris looked between them. "Barret's strong, and he knows his way around, remember? He said he brought Marlene and Moira here last year.

Neither male really caught the slip of name. Red shook his hackles.

"I think it wouldn't hurt to go check on them."

Vincent nodded, striding away from the camp and back into the village. Aeris looked at Nanaki, moving to sit on a rock across the flames from him.

"So, Barret brought someone here with Marlene? How long have they been together?"

Red hesitated, suddenly realizing he knew something she didn't have a clue about. Seeing his shoulders tense, she tilted her head. "Is something wrong?"

"Not wrong, just strange." He let out a heavy breath as he sat down. "You've been gone for so long...it's been nearly four years since they started seeing each other...romantically."

"Oh." Aeris still seemed confused. "That sounds wonderful; why would it be strange? Is Moira someone I should know?"

Red blinked, then cleared his throat. "I most certainly _know_ you know her. Her name isn't Moira, it's Myra- short for _Elmyra-__..._Your mother."


	17. Chapter 17: Blank

**A/N: So...here's Chapter 17.  
>Disclaimer: Don't pwn it! Not making monies from it.<strong>

**Chapter Seventeen: Blank**

"Well, that should do it."

Tifa stepped back, dropping her arm as the still-glowing water materia cooled down. In front of her Cid and Cloud stood around the steam chamber, peering into its open door as white water-smoke billowed out. Cloud seemed cautious, Cid looked bored.

"Shouldn'ta gone out in the first place. I built her to last through anything."  
>"It got hit pretty hard, you couldn't have possibly prepared it for <em>everything<em>."

The old pilot dared to look offended. "I had her good enough for the North Crater, I think she coulda handled a water monster just fine."

"It could have been a number of things," Tifa tried to interject. "Mifletset had the power of Vecena behind it, and we're still not entirely sure where _she_ came from in the first place. Then there was the shield-."

"Yeah what _was_ that thing, anyway?" Cid shut the door to the steam trap and stood back, turning their cluster into a triangle. "Aeris hasn't said two words about it since it happened-."  
>"Cid-."<br>"-and then she goes and stops a tsunami? _While_ it's happening?"  
>"<em>Cid<em>." Cloud repeated, shaking his head. "We're not going to get into it now. She's exhausted, we're exhausted- we all need sleep. I'm sure there will be plenty of time in the morning to figure out what happened and why."

"I wouldn't be so sure about the why part." He grumbled, wiping sweat from his face and pulling a cigarette out to light. "But whatever- I'll wait 'til the morning." Dragging in a breath, he blew smoke off to the side. "G'nite kids."

Shaking the match out as he went, Cid strode away, leaving Cloud and Tifa alone in the boiler room. They looked at one another, shrugging off the tension before walking out and down the hallway to the stairs that led up to their rooms.

"Glad we got the power back on." She mumbled.  
>"Well, just the lights for now," he replied. "But Cid seems to think he won't have any trouble getting things running once he's had some sleep."<br>"And an entire pack of cigarettes."

Cloud laughed, and she smiled. She loved seeing him happy.

They reached the top of the stairs and went through the door, stopping in the hallway. Their rooms were in separate directions.

Tifa quirked her lips. "Well, I'll see you in the morning then."

They stared at each other for a moment, letting the awkwardness mount up between them a little more before she finally moved to leave.

"Tifa." His voice was soft, and she knew that tone.  
>"Don't."<br>"I'm so-."

"Don't say it." She dropped her head. "I've heard it enough times from you, Cloud. Even if you mean it." Turning to face him, she shrugged. "I don't want you to be sorry, I just want you to be here. With us."

(With _me_.)

He shook his head slightly. "I would never leave you alone, Tifa."

(You always leave me alone, even when you're right beside me)

"I know."

They stared at each other, words hanging between them that felt heavier than the steam-damp air they breathed. After a few minutes, Cloud cleared his throat.

"Good night, Tifa."

"Good night, Cloud."

She walked away, disappearing moments later into one of the rooms near the end of the hallway. As the sound of the deadbolt locking echoed out to meet him where he stood in front of his own room, Cloud sighed.

"I love you, too."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Vincent didn't stop moving until he'd reached the villa.

While he was more than certain Barret could handle himself just fine when it came to protecting people, the thought of Yuffie being abducted by the Turks again had the gunslinger a little on edge.

The power was out in nearly the entire village, but he managed to find where he was going by following the sound of running water...and the smell of smoke.

"Barret?"

The behemoth of a man nearly jumped out of his skin, dropping the barely lit cigarette he held to ready his gun-arm. Vincent didn't flinch, even as the large multi-barreled weapon stopped inches from his face. A few seconds later, the old mercenary relaxed.

"Motherfuckin'..- The _hell_ you doin', man? Out here, creepin' around like some goddamn Turk-." Catching the depth of his own insult, he shook his head, dropping his arm. "_Whatever_."

"You smoke?"  
>He wrinkled his nose. "No more'n Cid does."<br>"That isn't saying much."

"Hey, _piss __off_ man." He looked down to the ground where his cigarette had landed and decided against picking it back up, stomping it out instead. "I jus' do it every once in a while, when I'm feelin' stressed."

"I see."

Barret snorted, leaning back against the door he was guarding. "Cid get the ship runnin'?"  
>"Not sure. We were about to go when Aeris asked us to help her bury Cait Sith."<p>

The gunman paused, starting to raise an eyebrow before chuckling softly.

"Can't say it surprises me. Kid's always had a big heart. Cares too much about everything- just like her Mom-." His voice cut short, as though he were suddenly remembering something. A few seconds later and he pulled another cigarette and struck the lighter.

Vincent seemed amused. "Not as much as Cid, hm?"

"'Ey shu'up Valentine! I don' need no lip from yo' sneaky ass right now." Taking a drag he blew the smoke downward. "I gotta tell her, y'know? Aeris. About me 'n her mom."

"It's been a long time since you started seeing her."

"Four years." He pushed off the door frame to walk to the small bridge overlooking the flooded street. "Four years since Elmyra...almost six since baby girl died. Her mom's gonna _freak_ when she sees her again. Aeris might too when she finds out I'm..._with_ her and all." Drawing in another breath he shrugged. "But I gotta do it."

"Now might be a better time than later. She's still at the fire with Nanaki, waiting for us to come back."

"Eh, I suppose." He finished the smoke, flicking the butt off into the water. "Might as well get it over with, before we get to town and she hears it from someone else."

Vincent nodded, looking to the villa door. "Is Yuffie in there?"

He popped an eyebrow. "Been nearly a half hour now. She might'a fallen asleep." He gave a short laugh. "Poor kid. She's a handful, but she sure as shit got put through it this week."

"Mm."

Barret glanced at the door, then looked to the gunslinger. "You watch her for me? Get her back to camp?"  
>"Of course."<br>"Thanks."

His teammate wandered off lazily toward the fire, leaving Vincent to walk quietly into the villa.

The moment the door shut behind him, nostalgia set in. Though he generally found comfort in darker, less colorful places, there was something about the villa in Costa del Sol...something that made it..._warm_. Even in it's breezy, water-logged ruin, he could still feel the non-existent sunshine; he could see the old images of their team, scattered about the living room before him- Barret and Cid watching TV, Cloud talking with Nanaki and Cait Sith about future plans for the group, Yuffie reluctantly sitting in the floor whilst Tifa and Aeris fawned over her soft, short hair.

And where was _he_? Exactly where he stood now- in the foyer just before the kitchen, looking over everything, watching.

Wasn't that what he was known for?

Out of everyone in his imaginary picture, the only person who had changed considerably since their time there was Yuffie. Her eyes, once so naïve and wide, had become softer, wiser. Her hair was nearly to her shoulders now. Her curves a bit more defined...

"_Shit!"_

The ninja's shower-muffled voice rang out from the bathroom shortly after what sounded like soap hitting her foot thumped loudly. Vincent smiled to himself. _That_ part of her- the foul-mouthed, accident-prone part- hadn't changed at all.

He walked toward the bedroom he knew she was in. The door was slightly open, but he could tell by the sound of the water that the bathroom itself was closed off. Good, he could sit outside.

Stepping in, he tried to disregard the clothes that had been strewn haphazardly throughout the room. He knew Yuffie had wanted to shower, but _this_ badly? It were as though she'd thrown everything off in a frenzy to get to water. Moving toward one of the twin beds in the room though, he could see why...or _smell _it, rather. The seawater- combined with days of captivity and no new clothes- had done a number on the garments she wore. He would be surprised if she put them on again when she was out.

Then again, she was unpredictable. That and he was fairly certain there was nothing else she had to wear.

Adjusting his gun, the ex-Turk sat down on the foot of the bed closest to the door. It was a strange feeling, the one Yuffie had stirred to life inside of him. It were as though he'd suddenly remembered something pleasant, something that made him..._happy_. Even if she barely knew she'd caused it.

Or did she?

The sound of her sighing through the water turned his attention to the closed door. How could she _not _know? Maybe when the feeling first came to life two years ago, but back then even _he_ hadn't been entirely certain what was going on. But over the last two years that mysterious feeling had grown, and the night he realized the Turks were on their way to kidnap her had only sealed their emotional fate.

He _cared_ for her, and not just on a friendly level.

(How did this happen?) He thought to himself. (I've always regarded the others from a distance, and while I eventually began to care for them all as dear friends, there is_nothing_ in my history with Yuffie to account for..._this_.)

_"As if you've ever had a say in anything that has happened in your life."_

Vincent instantly stiffened.

"_Now, __now, __my __human __host. __There __is __no __need __for __all __this __tension."_

"You shouldn't be awake now," he murmured to the formless demon. "I'm still _reverting _from you."

"_Ah __yes, __but __isn't __it __amazing? __The __things __we've __seen __since __Vecena __came __along..."_

"The _witch_."

_"Oh, Vincent. She is so much more than a simple 'witch'. More powerful, more determined, more deadly-."_

"What do you want from me, demon?"

Chaos snorted. _"Really? __You've __known __me __for __decades __now __and __you __still __do __not __know __why __I __am __here?"_

"It isn't as though I were given instructions when I received you."

_"Fate has no obligation to explain itself to mere mortals, Vincent. Remember that."_

He gave a short breath. "I'll make a note of it."

"_Mock __me __if __you __want,"_ the monster snarled. _"But __I __know __your __true __thoughts, __Dark __One. __I __know __your __heart__."_

Unable to help himself Vincent glanced at the bathroom door, distantly hearing Yuffie humming.

_"That's __right. __The __Princess __means __more __to __you __now __than __the __child __she __was __year s__ago."_

"Leave her out of this."

_"You __know __I __can't __do __that __now. __Not __when __someone __so __much __more __powerful __than __you __could __ever __hope __to __be __desires __her."_

The gunslinger felt his fingers twist slowly into fists. "You won't touch her."

_"Won't I? Can you swear to that, Vincent Valentine? Or are you forgetting? I am you."_

He shut his eyes, lowering his head as he tried to push the demon out. Chaos only cackled, pressing his essence into the pieces of him that still remained visible- the partially clawed hand, the small horns, the wings...

_"You might as well let me in now; let me finish her before you become any more attached. Trust me, it will hurt less in the end."_

Vincent gritted his teeth. He had to block it out. He _had_ to think of something, _anything_ that would calm his mind.

_"She __isn't __worth __it_."

Yuffie.

Taking in a deep breath, Vincent turned his thoughts to the only person who could make him..._feel_.  
>~~~~~~<p>

_She was 16 years old when they first met, and their introduction was unconventional, at best. _

_ShinRa Mansion had never been an inviting place, even in it's prime. Something about the way ivy enveloped half the siding just made it seem eerie. None of it mattered to him though. Thirty-something years of sleeping in a coffin tended to make one indifferent toward everything else. _

_"I want to look inside."_

_It was the first voice he'd heard in years. The first female voice he'd heard since...well..._

_"Open it!"  
>"We can't just pry it open, Yuffie." Tifa's scolding tone followed after. "It's disrespectful."<br>"How?" She crowed. "We've already trashed half the place killing monsters. I'm sure those fuckers've probably done a lot worse down here-."  
>"Yuffie-."<br>"They probably have sex on this thing."  
><span>"Yuffie!"<span>_

_Groans from several other people sounded around him. She must have been the youngest in the group._

_"Why the hell'd we decide to bring this brat along again?"  
>"Hey, shut up you cranky-legged old fart! I'm just trying to lighten the mood!"<em>

_"I think the lid just moved."_

_Red's statement shut them all up as Vincent decided he'd had enough of this nonsense- he knew just how to handle unwanted visitors. Throwing the cover off the coffin he sat upright in his velvet bed, giving them all a once-over as his vision came into focus._

_The moment he saw them- the faces of the eight that would soon become his closest friends- he knew his scare-tactics would be useless. Somehow, he was glad._

_Everyone regarded him distantly, hands playing over their weapons as they waited to see what he would do..._

_Everyone but her._

_"Gross-ness!" She crowed, nearly jumping into the box with him as she bounded forward. "You sleep in this thing?"  
>He blinked, staring at her. "It's been my home for quite some time now."<br>"Holy hell," she turned back to her friends, waving her arms excitedly. "He lives in this thing!"_

_"Yuffie." Aeris stepped forward, pulling the small girl back. "You're being impolite."_

_Yuffie wrinkled her nose, looking at him and extending her hand. "Yuffie Kisaragi!"_

_As brash as she was, she was the only one who didn't have the slightest bit of hesitation in her eyes when she looked at him. He shook her tiny hand, careful not to grip it too tight._

_"Vincent Valentine."  
>~~~~~~~~~ <em>

Yuffie distantly heard the sound of a door shutting outside the bathroom, but was soon lost again in the feeling of hot water pounding down over her bare shoulders. She was sore, to say in the least, and what little heat that was left in the water pump for Cloud's Villa was doing her all sorts of good as she craned her neck into the stream, letting the pressure work its magic on the knots that had managed to form over the last twelve hours.

(I'm sure that thirty-foot drop didn't help anything either.)

She hummed softly, daring to let her mind wander back to the feeling of Vincent's arms around her. Had he known she'd been gripping him a little tighter than she'd needed to? Surely he'd dismissed it to something she'd done out of fear, right?

(He held you _back,_ dummy,) she reminded herself tartly. (If you'd even call it that. You were both about to die.)

The unintentionally sobering thought made her shudder. She'd been spiraling into the hand of Death, and Vinnie had- quite literally- snatched her out of it, without so much as a second thought.

_He'd jumped off after her._

The sound of something clicking in the room outside caught her attention, and all at once Yuffie decided it was time to get out of the shower. Turning the water off, she moved to grab a towel from the back of the toilet, quickly drying herself before stepping onto the scratchy rug that stretched a short distance over the stark white tile. Rubbing the slip of fabric into her hair, she sighed and looked into the foggy mirror before her.

(I guess it could be worse, eh?) Wiping a bit of the moisture from her reflection, she paused to stick her tongue out at the sight of her battered twin before turning from the glass as she finished drying her hair into short, shoulder-length strands and wrapped the towel close to her body, then went to crack the bathroom door open.

Damnit, why had she thrown her close all over the room again? Whatever; it didn't matter now, and she was fairly certain she could retrieve them without disturbing whoever was watching over her at this point.

Of course, that theory was instantly disproved the moment she saw _him _sitting six feet from the doorway.

Her first reaction was panic. Why was Vincent sitting so close to the bathroom? Why was he sitting there at _all_? Barret had been the one to walk her to the villa, when had they traded off? How _long_ had she even been _in_ there? Was there any way to get to her clothes in this situation _without_ him seeing her?

After a few seconds she calmed down, but only because she began to notice how tense Vincent was. He was rigid, almost _shaking_ with hinged-control that she had _no_ idea was close to not even existing. Something about seeing him like that- feeling as though he were _vulnerable_...she couldn't keep herself from curiosity. Disregarding her state of undress the ninja stepped forward, out of the bathroom, and silently padded forward to the ex-Turk that seemed knee-deep in concentration before her...

"Vinnie...?" She breathed, nearing the bed he sat on. When he didn't respond, she reached out to touch one of the wings that still protruded from his back. "Vinn-."

The second her fingertips brazed his scaly skin, Vincent spun around. She only had a second to look into his eyes- which were devoid of any emotion, any understanding of what was happening- what he was _doing_. Naturally, she had her instincts too, and before his golden-clawed hand could dig its way into her barely shielded abdomen she struck, flat-palming his wrist and averting the blow to the side of her ribcage as he stood, grabbing her with his relatively human hand behind her back and gripping with the strength of a Titan as they twisted, sliding across the carpet and into the wall beside the doorway she'd just emerged from.

The sound of his metal fingertips breaking through plaster nearly made her heart stop, and she held her breath. He'd almost killed her.

Of course, she hadn't gotten off Scott-free. Moments after kinetic motion ceased, she felt the warm sensation of blood trickle down over her hip. It was _then _that she realized she wasn't breathing.

"Vincent." She sucked in air along with his name.

The gunslinger stared at her, normally calm, distant gaze suddenly becoming wide as he realized what he'd done. Jerking his hand back, he staggered away from her.

"Y-..Yuffie." He shook himself out of a trance. "Are you alright?"

Looking down at herself, she held the towel against her with one hand and checked the damage with the other. "I...I think so."  
>"You need to sit down."<br>"What's happening?" She couldn't keep the fear from her voice, even as Vincent took over and guided her toward the bed. There was no resistance on her part as she sat down, peeling away half the towel to reveal the side that had been lacerated. The section of cloth that she still pressed to herself barely covered her breasts, and the bottom half of the fabric collected in her lap just enough to cover her upper-thighs.

Vincent didn't seem to notice, though. So set on assessing her wounds was he that he didn't notice when she finally came out of her stupor and began to stare at him, watching as the man that had for years been so guarded, so...cold... suddenly show some sign of caring toward her. He addressed her expertly, pulling a Hi-Potion and a rag from his belt, soaking the cloth and gently dabbing it over the cuts.

It wasn't until the small openings began to seal up that he looked at her. "Is that better?"

She swallowed hard and nodded quickly.

They were quiet for a few seconds, before she found it in her to ask. "...What happened?"  
>"Nothing," he almost snipped.<br>"Vincent."

The tone her voice took on drew his gaze up to hers- and instantly; there was his calm. The storm in her eyes drew him in, made him...quiet. Chaos was gone, and all that was left was _her_, holding his shoulder with her free-hand as he pressed the Hi-Potion- soaked rag against her ribcage.

"Chaos." He muttered.  
>She continued to stare at him, expression unchanging. "...Is it gone?"<br>"I think so."

The wound was almost closed now, and Vincent removed the cloth, leaning back to sit on the bed a foot away from her, knees framed around her bare, slender legs. Her hand dropped down to his forearm, and while he no longer _needed _to touch her, he couldn't pull himself away.

"Did I send It away?"

That was it. There was no barrier at this point. She was being more than 'just curious' with him, and they both knew it. He looked at her.

"Yes."

They stared at each other for what felt like eternity, his fingertips gently tracing her thighs as she leaned forward, disregarding all sense of personal space.

She pressed herself against him. He was powerless to stop it. He didn't _want_ to stop it.

Their lips met in one, fluid motion. Yuffie twisted to sit on his leg, while Vincent instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist, disregarding the fact that the towel that kept her nakedness from him was slipping dangerously close to her chest. Only the kiss mattered- salty on sweet, rough against smooth. Electricity shot between them as her nimble hands slid up his shoulders and behind his neck; everything was forgotten as she twisted her fingers into his hair leaned against him...

"Yuffie."

She nearly yelped at the sensation of him pulling back.

"What?"  
>He looked at her, the vision of her face hazy through his own passion. "We can't do this."<br>The ninja balked. "What!"  
>"We can't," he repeated, letting his hands fall to her hips. "It isn't right."<br>"The _hell_ it isn't!" She scowled, shaking her head. "Don't you _dare_ tell _me _about 'right and wrong' Vincent Valenti-."

She was cut off abruptly by his mouth over hers, and it was all she could do to turn herself in his lap and wrap her legs around his waist as he stood, gripping her under her thighs and moving to the bed she'd previously been sitting on. Laying her down, he continued to kiss her until she let go of his shoulders, sliding her hands down his chest.

"No." He breathed into her open mouth. "Yuffie-."  
>"Stop." She panted. "To <em>hell <em>with your fucking logic, Vinnie, just-."

He kissed her again, but it didn't lead where she wanted it to. After he'd sufficiently pressed her into the pillows he leaned back on the bed, shaking his head. She sat up, still holding the cloth to her chest.

"What is it?"  
>"Yuffie." He looked at her. "We both know we can't do this."<br>She inhaled sharply. "Then why won't you stop looking at me like you want to?"

They stared at each other for a moment, before he turned away. "It isn't that I don't want to."  
>"Then <em>what?<em>"  
>"We can't." He stood up. "We just...can't."<p>

He walked to the door leading outside, pausing with his nearly-human hand on the knob.

"Please get dressed. We can't keep the others waiting much longer. I'll wait outside for you."

With that, he stepped out and shut the door behind him, leaving the Wutain Princess in nothing less than a hot-and-bothered stated of being. Even so, she still couldn't entirely believe what had just happened.

"...Son of a _bitch._"

Shaking her head, she pulled her tattered towel closer around her as she got up from the bed and began retrieving her over-used clothes from their random points in the room to put on and go back to the Shera.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

**A/N:****(laughs ****insanely )****YOU'RE ****WELCOME!****  
>All <strong>**you ****punks ****who ****have ****been ****waiting ****17 ****chapters ****for ****this ****moment ****had ****better ****frakking ****leave ****me ****a ****review! ****:)**

Also, **(side****note)**

**I ****thought ****I ****should ****clear ****up tha****t ****yes, ****I ****AM ****calling ****Elmyra ****Aeris's**** "****Mother****" ****on ****purpose. ****None ****of ****the ****members ****of ****AVALANCHE ****ever ****knew ****Ifalna ****(not ****that ****they ****didn't ****know ****she ****existed, ****but ****Aeris ****also ****refers ****to ****Elmyra ****as ****her ****mother ****in ****the ****game, ****so ****why ****wouldn't ****they ****do ****it ****too?).**

**Thanks guys! ****Don't ****forget ****to ****review!**

**~Ari**


	18. Chapter 18: Backtrack

**A/N: Enjoy!  
>Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII and am not making anything from this fic. <strong>

**Chapter Eighteen: Backtrack  
><strong>

_"Aeris."_

_The Ancient shifted to her side, unwilling to let whoever had decided to try and wake her up succeed._

_"Aeris."_  
><em>"Mm."<em>  
><em>"Come on now, Lily. You can't sleep forever."<em>

_She froze. Only one person in the history of her life had ever called her 'Lily.' Opening her eyes, she pushed herself upright and turned until she found his ice blue eyes looking down at her._

_"Zack...?"_  
><em>"Hey." He smiled warmly, crouching down in front of her as she slid to sit on her knees. It wasn't until that moment that she realized she wasn't in the bed she'd fallen asleep in on the Shera, but a field of flowers-<em>_her field._

_"What...what's happening?" She pressed a palm to her forehead, dropping her gaze. "Am I..? Did I...?"_  
><em>"No," he answered her implied question. "You're still alive. You're safe."<em>  
><em>"But Vecen-."<em>  
><em>"Don't-." He nearly fell forward, clamping a hand over her mouth and looking around nervously. "Don't say It's name. We're in the Lifestream- to which It has a direct connection. If you say the name, It will hear you."<em>

_Aeris stared at him for a moment, then nodded slightly. He took his hand away._

_"I don't understand."_  
><em>"I know."<em>  
><em>"I mean, one minute I'm here, with you, the next I'm on this table and Rufus is screaming at me and Yuffie..." She sucked in a breath as the situation she'd found herself in screamed into focus, looking at her dead boyfriend with glassy eyes. "Oh, god, Zack. What are they going to do to Yuffie?"<em>

_She started crying, and the dark-haired SOLDIER shifted forward, pulling her into his arms._  
><em>"C'mon, babe. It's gonna be OK. I'm here to help, remember?"<em>  
><em>"I don't know what you could possibly do from here. It took nearly everything <em>_both of us had to help them last time, but with just one-."  
><em>_"Hey now, hey." He pulled back from her, sliding a hand beneath her chin. "You underestimatin' me again, kid?"  
><em>_Aeris tried to laugh, hanging her head. "I'm sorry."  
><em>_"Apology accepted."_

_They sat, the moment building between them until finally they both rushed forward, collapsing into an embrace completed by their lips meeting. They kissed hopelessly, the full feeling of a solid connection always just out of reach as the border between life and death made the situation more impossible by the second._

_It took a short time of aimless necking, of Zack attempting to lay them down only to cause the delicate mirage of flowers to disintegrate beneath them, of Aeris trying to run her fingers through his normally soft, black hair only to realize she felt nothing...they both began to see the moment was nothing but a meeting, a brief time to exchange information- it wasn't a reunion._

_Lying back on the grass, they settled for looking at one another, holding hands carefully as they whispered, scared things could fall apart any second._

_"I've missed you."_  
><em>"I've missed you too, Aer."<em>

_She shut her eyes for a second, inhaling deeply. "I'm so lost."_  
><em>"I know. That's why I'm here."<em>  
><em>Looking at him, she turned onto her side. "Do <em>_you know what we're supposed to do next?"_

_He mirrored her action, propping his head up on his hand and his arm up by the elbow as he faced her. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. It has everything to do with your Princess Guard."_

_He went on to explain the weapon. The orbs were a type of Ancient Materia passed down through generations for the sole purpose of protecting the Ancient Princess by way of making her Guardian powerful. Each orb stood for an element of emotion that was prophesied to save the Princess- and, in turn- to save the Planet._

_"This sounds like it should be an important part of Ancient history." Aeris seemed skeptical despite Zack's close attention to detail. "Wouldn't I have heard something about this growing up?"_  
><em>"Did you hear much about <em>_anything that happened to you growing up?"  
><em>_"Well...no. But the Planet didn't even hint at this."  
><em>_"Sure it did, Aeris. You probably just didn't see it. You were kind of busy trying to stop the Apocalypse, remember?"_

_She laughed softly and he smiled, brushing her bangs out of her eyes._

_"You have to get those orbs. You have to bring them together and put them back into your weapon. Only then will you be able to defeat It."_  
><em>A moment of silence, and she furrowed her brow. "What about Yuffie? How does <em>_she play into all of this?"_

_"That, I don't know." He sat up, drawing his legs in and resting his arms across his knees. "The Planet will only show me bits and pieces of the story at a time. Everything I just told you is all I've been able to gather since you left."_  
><em>"Thank you."<em>  
><em>Tossing her a sheepish grin, he shrugged. "Eh, I do what I can."<em>

_She sat up next to him, smiling thoughtfully and resting her head on his shoulder. It was nice, being back in the Lifestream, even if it were on an alternate plane._

_Unfortunately, the moment was short. Just as Zack began pondering another attempt at kissing her, the ground began to shake- a black, smoky haze erupting from the cracks that appeared in the dirt._

_"Zack-?"_  
><em>"It found us!" He yelled over the noise, springing to his feet. Aeris went to stand up behind him, but was thrown back down when a violent tremor rattled beneath them. She looked up and around his legs to see the smoke culminating into a black door full of lightning; an ominous hiss echoed inside.<em>

_"Give me...the Ancient..."_  
><em>"Hey piss-off, you old wench!" He gripped the hilt of his sword, looking down over his shoulder at the Flower Girl who was staring wide-eyed at the door. "Lily, time to go!"<em>  
><em>"But Zack-."<em>  
><em>"No time, babe!" She took his extended hand and pulled up to her feet. "This thing gets ugly when It's mad- it'll be no place for one of the Living World." Lowering his voice, he slid his hand to the nape of her neck and leaned in, touching his forehead to hers. "Go. Be safe. Tell the crew I said 'hey.'"<em>

_Kissing her forehead, he let go of her. The moment he gave up contact a great gust of wind shoved her back, flowers shredding up under her boots as she slid backwards a few feet._

_"Aeris, go!" The wind was so loud she could barely hear him, but she managed to keep her gaze steady just long enough to see him mouth the words 'I love you,' before turning back to the growing cloud and drawing his sword._

_"Come and get me, you crazy bitch!"_

_"Zack!" Aeris tried to scream over the deafening noise, but it was no use. Another gust of wind shoved her further back, and before she realized what was happening, the field of flowers came to an end, and she was falling._

_"Zack!"  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~ <em>

A shrill, feminine scream pierced through the silence of the Shera with such a volume even the crew on the upper floors stirred in their sleep. Tifa, on the other hand, was just down the hallway, and she knew that voice.

Aeris.

Before her brain had even registered being fully away she was in the hallway, oblivious to the other doors around her slowly opening as her teammates groggily emerged to see what the problem was. No, she knew that cry- that helpless, strangled shriek, and she was _not_about to let something happen to her friend. Not again.

When she reached the door, she wasn't surprised to find it locked. Down the corridor the sound of Cid yelling "I have a key," barely hit her ears before she took a few steps back and twisted, bare foot connecting to the surface just beside the knob and- quite literally- shattering the entryway. She ran in.

Aeris sat upright in her bed, curled into a shivering ball, sobbing. After glancing around for any sign of an enemy, the martial-artist moved to kneel in front of the woman, taking her gently by the shoulders.

"Aeris?"  
>It wasn't until then that she realized the Ancient was fervently whispering a name, a name that it didn't take long to make out.<p>

"Zack...Zack..."  
>"Aeris, what happened?" When she didn't answer, she looked around again. "Is he here?"<p>

"Did he tell you to break the goddamn door?" Cid's sardonic voice came from the doorway, and Tifa shot him a look. He shrugged. Beside him, Yuffie sidled in, rubbing sleep from her eyes as she moved to crawl into the bed with Aeris, sitting on her other side.

"Okay, what the hell's going on?"  
>"She won't tell me."<p>

"Zack...he's...Vecena came and..."

The two looked at one another. Yuffie ran a comforting hand across her friend's shoulders.

"No, no...It was just a nightmare, Aeris. I'm sure Zack is fine...I mean, he's sort of already dead-."  
>"Yuffie!"<br>"Well he is!"

Tifa rolled her eyes, pushing Aeris to shift in the bed enough for her to sit down too. A few minutes later, the woman's sobs downgraded to sniffling, and she looked at her friends.

"I'm sorry."  
>"Don't worry about it, sweetie." Tifa brushed her hair back. "You have every right to be scared."<br>"Yeah," Yuffie tacked on, "besides, it's not every day you get to see Cid's face turn that color red."

"I had a _key_."  
>"Go smoke a cigarette, old man!"<p>

The pilot shook his head, doing just that, but walking into the room instead. Nearby, Red XIII's heavy voice sounded.

"Is everything alright?"  
>"Now that you're here, yes." Barret replied from outside the doorway- he was standing just out of sight.<br>"Your sarcasm is not appreciated at four in the morning."

"Come on, guys, knock it off." Cloud's gentle-but-stern voice came from the other side of the hallway, and all three women looked up in time to see him walk in. He paused to look at the broken door, then to Tifa.

"Nice."

She narrowed her eyes, then looked back to Aeris. "She had a nightmare."  
>"It wasn't just a nightmare." The Flower Girl shook her head. "It <em>happened.<em>"  
>"I'm sure it felt like it did," Yuffie countered. "You just came from there, it's probably all still fresh in your mind-."<p>

"_No,_" she said firmly, sending a tension through the room. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Cloud, who seemed to be the only collected, understanding one in the group. "Zack was there. He told me about the Ancient Materia. It's how we kill Vecena."

_That _shut everyone up. Suddenly everyone in the hallway was peering through the doorway. Even Vincent had been standing nearby, quiet.

Cloud took this in for a moment, crossing his arms, before nodding. "Okay. What did he say?"  
>"We have to get them all together- put them back in Princess Guard. He said the materia all hold some part of a prophesy that was told, and they will be the thing to save the Planet from It."<p>

"'It'?" Cid echoed.  
>Barret raised an eyebrow at him. "Man, you <em>knew<em>that thing wasn't no woman."

Again, he shrugged, blowing smoke off to the side as Aeris continued speaking.

"He didn't say what to do once we _got_ the materia."  
>"What about Yuffie?"<br>"He didn't know about that, either. The Planet isn't letting him know everything at once."

"Sounds like someone doesn't wanna be saved again," Barret grumbled.  
>"I'm certain it isn't like that," Red chided. "The Planet has a reason for everything it does and does not do. There must be more to it's discretion."<p>

"Did he say anything about where Vecena came from, Aeris?" Tifa seemed more accepting of the situation now, quickly absorbing what happened.  
>The Ancient pondered, then nodded. "Sort of. He said It had a direct connection to the Lifestream. That means <em>something<em>, right?"

"Most of the time when something has a 'direct connection' to the Lifestream, it was born from it." Vincent's deep voice caught everyone's attention. No one noticed when Yuffie cut her gaze to the wall beside her.

"If Vecena _is _from the Lifestream, the chances of finding information on...It...are most likely limited to the library of the ShinRa Mansion."

"Again with the Mansion," Cid moaned, flicking his cigarette down and grinding it out. "We need to just _go _there already."

"We need to collect the materia first," Cloud interjected, taking on his 'leader' tone. "If Zack went through the trouble of invading Aeris's dreams, it must be imperative that we get them all soon." He looked at Cid. "Mine's in my old room in Rocket Town."

"What a happy-fucking-coincidence." He gave an exaggerated grin. "Mine's in R-Town, too." Drawing out another cigarette, he stepped over the broken pieces of door and made his way back into the hallway. "Good thing that's where we're goin', eh?" Pausing to look at the mess, the shot a look to Yuffie. "_Yer _gonna be the one to fix this, kid."

She balked. "What! _Me_? But I'm not the one who broke it!"  
>"Don't backtalk me!"<p>

The ninja gaped, shooting helpless glances to her comrades, who offered nothing. Groaning, she slid off the bed and padded out after the old Pilot.

"I'm gonna need a toolbox, you twat."  
>"Follow me, skinny-ass."<p>

They disappeared. The rest of the room slowly dispersed until all that remained was Cloud, Tifa and Aeris. The Leader only stayed long enough to exchange "Are you alright?" looks with the barmaid, before heading quietly back to his room. When he was gone, Tifa looked to her friend.

"Are you going to be OK?"  
>She started to nod 'yes,' before quickly shaking her head 'no.' Then the tears started again.<br>"I just...I don't understand why all of this happened."  
>"That sort of seems to be a running theme with our group."<p>

Aeris tried to laugh. Tifa smiled.

"At least you got to see him, yeah?"  
>"Yeah." She wrapped her arms around her knees, sighing. "He kept Vecenea at bay long enough for me to get back to ...here." Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she shrugged. "I don't know what I would have done if that monster had actually gotten to me."<br>"And now you don't have to worry about it." Moving to the head of the bed, Tifa pulled a pillow up and set it across her lap, motioning for Aeris to lay down. "Come on, get some sleep. I'll stay here with you."

There was no protest. The Ancient gave an exhausted exhale and slid back under the covers, laying her head on her friend's lap and letting the younger woman play gently with her hair until she fell back to sleep.  
>~~~~~~~<p>

By morning, the ship was running.

It had taken Cid nearly five hours (and an entire pack of cigarettes) to pinpoint the main problem in the engine, but once he found what exactly had gone wrong, it didn't take long to fix.

"The trick is keeping it maintained," he said with more than just a hint of righteous indignation in his tone. "Someone's gonna have to stay down here with it and make sure it doesn't fall apart, and since most of you are either too stupid or busy doing other shit to watch it- that leaves me."

The crew, used to this kind of talk from the Captain, simply went back to their assigned duties on the ship. The rest of AVALANCHE, on the other hand, rolled their eyes.

"You _really_ think it's that hard?" Barret peeked into the engine room, somewhat intimidated by all the machinery, but not letting it show on his face.  
>"'Course it is!" He bellowed. "You might be able to handle it, if you had two hands, but my luck- you'd probably blast right through the coils and then this whole thing'd go down in flames!"<p>

The mercenary grumbled, taking his leave of the group to go find breakfast. Tifa and Aeris followed soon after. Cloud looked around, slightly amused.

"You sure you don't need a hand?"  
>"What'd I just say! Y'all get the hell out of here and figure out where we're going next so I can figure out how long I have to make this thing work proper!"<p>

Cloud chuckled, motioning for Red and Vincent to follow after him as he headed for the meeting room. Yuffie was the only one left, and she only leaned against the door frame, arms crossed. After a full minute, Cid noticed her.

"Can I help you?"  
>"Put me to work."<br>He laughed. "Yeah, sure."  
>"No, I'm serious."<br>Looking back up, he raised an eyebrow. "You ain't got nothin' better to do?"  
>"Eh." She shrugged, walking in. "I'm not hungry, and I sure as shit don't wanna sit around and listen to <em>those<em>nitwits ramble on about what to do next. Besides-." She hopped up onto a crate beside him. "You already made me fix a door this morning, I'm on a roll."

Cid finished tightening the bolt he'd been working on for the better part of five minutes and stood up straight, looking at her. A few seconds later, he shrugged.

"Eh, fine. You've got small hands, I'm sure I could find some machine for you to lose a finger to."  
>"That's what I was hoping to hear."<br>"Yeah, well, if you throw up on any of my stuff, I'll chop 'em off myself."

She laughed, jumping down from the crate to follow him further back into the engine room.  
>~~~~<p>

Breakfast was a joke, as far as Barret was concerned.

Don't get me wrong- to that man, food is food. But when there's so little of it you feel bad for having _two _pieces of bacon, it almost just isn't worth it.

He moseyed into the gathering room once his plate was un-sufficiently filled, grumbling about wasting away and cigarettes as he found a seat in the corner and flopped down. What he had _might _tie him over for a bit, but if he didn't find something else before they reached Rocket Town he wasn't so sure he wouldn't kill the first chocobo he saw coming off the ship and eat it right there in the field.

"Can we sit here?"

Aeris and Tifa calmed his irritable attitude with their sweet smiles, and he nodded.

"Go ahead."

The women settled in across from him on the large comfy chairs Cid had installed shortly after finishing the exterior of the ship. He thought about asking them if they were going to have seconds when Aeris spoke.

"So, I hear you're dating my mother."

He nearly fell out of his chair. Of course he hadn't gotten around to talking to her about it last night, because...well...it was cold and...um...you don't talk about things like that when it's cold.

A.K.A.- he chickened out.

"Wha...-."  
>"Oh, that's right!" Tifa's face lit up. "I completely forgot!"<p>

Aeris looked up at her and they both laughed. Barret was dumbfounded.

"I..."

They turned to him; Tifa tilted her head.  
>"Are you...are you <em>embarrassed<em>?"  
>"He wasn't even going to tell me," Aeris giggled. "Nanaki told me last night when we were waiting for Yuffie and Vincent to come back from the villa."<p>

Barret balked. Nanaki! That damn, firey-assed dog!

"I was _too_ gonna tell ya," he grumbled. "Jus' didn't know how."  
>Tifa laughed. "How about 'hey, I'm dating your Mom.'"<br>"It ain't that simple."  
>"Sure it is!"<p>

"It's OK." Aeris smiled warmly, somehow making him feel better. "I'm happy for you."  
>He seemed hesitant. "You..are?"<br>"Of course I am! My Mother's a wonderful person, and you're a great guy, and she loves Marlene." Leaning forward, she gently placed a hand on his wrist. "It's a _good_thing. For both of you."

Barret paused, the ice melting around his heart just enough for him to lose control of his smile. It turned to a grin in seconds, and he went back to his food.

"She sure is gonna be happy to see you, that's the damn truth."  
>"I can't wait to see her face." Tifa looked at her friend, who took a deep breath.<br>"I'm kind of nervous."  
>"It'll be fine," Barret reassured her. "Jus'...make sure one'a us is nearby when she sees you the first time...she's prolly gonna fall out."<br>"Right."

It wasn't long before Barret had finished his food, but- much to his luck- the girls were full. Scraping what they had left onto his plate, they went to go get ready for the day, leaving the large man with nearly an entire second helping. He sighed happily, thinking about the homecoming in Rocket Town. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.  
>~~~~~~<p>

"Okay, turn that counterclockwise- no, _counter-_clockwise, I said!"

Yuffie tried not to laugh as Cid's face turned red for the fifth time in the last half hour. Swearing angrily under his breath, the old pilot turned away from the machine she had carefully wound her way into to tighten some loose bolts.

"You need to relax."  
>"You need to <em>listen<em>."

She rolled her eyes, going back to work and letting her own thoughts drone out the scolding of her 'mentor.' All morning she'd been like this: think about last night, find something to distract her from last night, think about last night _while_working on her distraction. It was impossible to block it out- his eyes, the way his breath felt against her neck, the feel of his cold-yet-gentle hands sliding up the length of her body as he laid her down...

"Yuffie!"

The ninja jumped, wrench slipping from her hand and clattering noisily to the ground. She looked at Cid with more than just a hint of annoyance on her face.

"What!"  
>He looked at her dully. "You were tightenin' the bolt too tight. The pump's gotta have room to breathe."<br>"It's a_ machine_."  
>"So?"<br>"_'So,_' it doesn't have _lungs_, you dummy."  
>He snorted. "Smartass."<br>"It's why you keep me around."

She went to pick up the wrench, only to have the ship pitch to the side before she could grab it. The tool slid just enough to find a hole in the metal grating holding the engine and fell, banging a path down into what she could only assume was the boiler room below.

"God-damnit!" Cid groaned, kicking his toolbox. "That's the fuckin' _third_ one this month!"  
>"Sorry."<br>"Yeah, you should be." He scowled, taking his gloves off and heading for the door. "Yer lucky I got six more of those in storage. Stay there- and for fuck's sake don't _touch_nothin'!"

He stormed out, leaving Yuffie to go back to her thoughts at her own leisure. Leaning against the railing blocking her in, she sighed.

(I wonder if he wants to talk about it?) She almost snorted at how ridiculous the notion was. (Yeah, right. He probably hasn't even thought about it.)

Humming, she turned her attention back to the machine, trying to find something else to keep her hands busy and her mind quiet. A few seconds later the sound of the door opening caught her ear.

"Took you long enough," she started, turning to the walkway. "I'm getting bor-."

She choked on her words the second her eyes met Vincent's. He, of course, said nothing.

"What are you doing here?" She finally blurted out.  
>"Looking for Cid. Have you seen him?"<br>"He went to get a wrench." Her stomach was in knots. "What do you need?"  
>"I was going to tell him that Cloud, Nanaki and myself have come up with a course of action, and we wanted run it by him."<p>

Of course. Of _course_ his reason for coming into the engine room would be logical and have _nothing_ to do with her. While the butterflies kept multiplying, Yuffie couldn't help the feeling of childish bitterness creeping into her bones. Did he _really _not care about what happened last night?

Shaking herself from the uneasy thoughts, she narrowed her eyes when she found he was staring at her.

_"What?"_  
>"How did you get back there?"<br>Glancing around, she quirked her lips. "I dunno, carefully?"

He didn't seem amused. She decided it was time for her to leave.

"Anyway, I'm going to go get ready to land. We should be in Rocket Town soon, right?"  
>"Ten minutes, give or take."<br>"Good." Walking to the small opening she'd squeezed herself through to get into the engine in the first place, she reached up and gripped the metal piping overhead, nimbly lifting herself through the hole and dropping down on the other side.

Unlike nearly every other time, when luck would have something unfortunate happen to put her stumbling into Vincent's arms, the Princess landed perfectly on her feet. It was almost a surprise, but she didn't let it faze her. Smoothing down her shirt, she went to walk past the gunslinger.

"See you later then."  
>"Goodbye."<p>

She reached the door, still feeling his gaze on her. Suddenly, she couldn't take it anymore. Pausing, she shut her eyes for a brief moment, gripping her fist in an attempt to mentally talk herself out of something, before giving up altogether and turning around. Vincent didn't flinch when she turned and rushed back to him, grabbing him by the shirt-collar and jerking him down to press a feverishly hot kiss to his lips. Before he could stop himself he'd wrapped his human arm around her waist, fingertips sliding under her short top and grazing her skin tentatively. Just when he was about to move his other hand to pick her up, she shoved him away.

They stared at each other, breathing heavily. He was startled. She started laughing.

"That...that's what I thought." She ran a hand over her mouth, laughing again as she turned from him, drawing both hands through her hair before striding out of the engine room. "Glad we're on the same page."

Vincent couldn't think. He just stared at the open door in a stupor that didn't clear right away- not even when Cid finally returned with the wrench.

"Yuff- oh, hey Valentine." He paused, glancing at the empty engine. "Yuffie leave?"  
>"Yes," he forced the response.<br>Cid furrowed his brow, then shrugged. "OK." He started for another part to work on, before pausing to look at his red-cloaked friend. "...You know you've got grease on yer face, right?"

Finally, he snapped out of it, touching his fingers to his cheeks just long enough to find the smear of black mess the ninja had left on him. He couldn't help it, he smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." He took a cloth out of his belt and wiped it away, turning to his old friend. "Can I help you with anything?"  
>"Sure, hand me that box over there."<p>

Vincent did as he was asked, starting the conversation about Cloud's plans as he casually worked with Cid to fix the engine.  
>~~~~~<p>

Ten minutes later ("give or take"), the airship touched down on the landing pad just outside Rocket Town. People stood around, many with their children, watching in awe as the metal titan settled into it's nest without so much as a shudder. Crew members finished their docking detail before leaving to go to their homes, while the rest of the group slowly made their way to 7th Heaven.

"So she's staying with Shera?" Aeris asked Barret as they walked, her voice shaking with the anticipation of seeing her Mother again.  
>"Yep. We'll get settled in an' I'll go over an' tell her, so she won't startle too bad when she sees ya."<p>

She nodded, slipping her arm into his and gripping it tight as they followed their friends into the bar.

They were greeted by the wonderful smell of home-cooking.

"Hey guys!" Shera emerged from the kitchen with a dish of stuffing, a warm smile on her pretty face. "Welcome home!"

"Welcome home, welcome home!" Cid grinned, rushing to pick his woman up around her waist. She barely had enough time to set the food down before he'd lifted her off her feet to spin her around, kissing her sweetly as she slid back down.

The rest of the crew came in, letting out an array of "Ah"'s and "Oh, you shouldn't have"'s when the delicious smells hit their noses. It wasn't much longer before Shera noticed the not-so-new face among the crowd. Pausing, she shook her head.

"Wait...is that..?"

Aeris tried to smile, and Cid started to explain when suddenly the sound of a glass pan shattering on the floor silenced everyone.

Elmyra stood in the kitchen doorway, eyes wide as she stared at her daughter.

"...Aeris?"  
>The Ancient quirked her lips. "...Hi, Mom."<p>

Cloud jumped the bar just in time to catch the older woman as she fainted. Aeris winced. Barret ran a hand down his face.

"I _told _you she was gonna fall out."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

**A/N: Thank you SO much to everyone's who's been reviewing. Your kind words are making my face turn red (not the same way as Cid's though. XD)! I hope you enjoyed this chapter- Happy Thanksgiving!**

**~Ari**

**P.S. I also just started another Subfic called "Paint." For all those in love with Reno- this ones for you!**  
><strong>And- AND! "Caged" is finished, for those who have been casually reading that. :) Thanks again!<strong>


	19. Chapter 19: Trouble

**A/N: Thank you for reading! Enjoy Chapter Nineteen!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FFVII and am not making any money from this fic.**

**Chapter Nineteen: Trouble  
><strong>

"I didn't mean to make her faint."

Barret smiled slightly, flipping the cool washcloth over on Elmyra's forehead while leaning back in the chair he sat in. He looked across the bed at Aeris, who sat on the other side of her mother holding her hand.

"I know. An' we didn't exactly expect her to be _here_when we landed. It wasn't anybody's fault. She'll come around."

Aeris hummed, lowering her gaze to where her fingers were laced carefully with those of the woman who raised her. Despite the whole fainting thing, it was good to see her again.

"How long do you think she'll be out?"  
>"Who knows. Yuffie was out for a few hours before she came around."<br>"And then she passed out _again._" The Ancient quirked her lips. "Maybe I _shouldn't_ be here when she wakes up."  
>He shrugged. "It's up to you. I figure she can only pass out so many times before she realizes she ain't dreamin'."<br>She let out a soft laugh. "That didn't help."

Barret grumbled, embarrassed, and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. What dignity he had left was saved by a soft knock on the door. They both looked to see a young, sandy-haired boy enter.

"'Ey, Denzel!" Barret held his arm open for the kid to rush into for a hug. "How's my boy been?"  
>"Good! Aunt Shera's been teaching Marlene and me how to make toy planes!"<br>"Pffft- you think yer Aunt _Shera_ can teach ya a thing or two about _planes_, just wait 'til yer Uncle Cid gets in on it!"  
>Denzel laughed. "He's never hoooome!"<p>

The two laughed, and Aeris smiled at the sweet scene. Just as Barret started asking about his daughter, the door creaked open a bit further, and the Ancient turned her head in time to see Marlene's wide eyes staring at her.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Shera stared hard at her husband, trying to fully comprehend just _what _he was explaining to her.

"So...Aeris is _not_ dead?"  
>"No," he paused, then shook his head. "Well, she <em>was<em>. Yuffie brought her back to life-."  
>"Don't say it like that." The ninja shirked.<br>"-It was an accident-."  
>"That sounds worse."<p>

Cid stopped to throw her a look, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Can I _finish_ the story?"  
>"I don't know, <em>can <em>you?"

He narrowed his eyes, looking back to Shera, who was giggling. Hearing her laugh, his anger melted away and he forgot where he was with the story.

Seeing the derailing train of thought, Cloud laughed and leaned over, slapping the pilot on the shoulder.

"Basically, she's back, and she's going to help us against this new Evil that seems to have taken a liking to Rufus ShinRa."

"Oh, President ShinRa." She tossed her hands in the air, letting out an exasperated breath. "Doesn't trouble just seem to follow that man wherever he goes?"

"I have the feeling he brings most of it upon himself," Vincent interjected quietly.  
>"<em>I <em>don't understand why we still call him 'President' when he's clearly a psychopath," Yuffie tagged on, leaning back in her chair.  
>Tifa giggled. "I think 'Psychopath ShinRa' might be a bit too long to say every time."<p>

Yuffie laughed with her, and the rest of the group went back to eating. A few minutes passed in quiet small-talk when suddenly, Nanaki looked toward the door.

"Someone's coming."

Before anyone could give him a questioning look, the bar door opened. In walked Reeve Tuetsi.

"Reeve!" Nearly everyone in the bar yelped, and the tall 'man behind the cat' flashed a row of straight, white teeth.

"Welcome home, everyone!"  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Barret watched carefully as his daughter and Aeris stared at one another. Normally, he would have felt the need to intervene- to rush to the rescue and try to keep his daughter in one piece- but something in the back of his mind told him to let it play out. After all, it _had _been nearly six years since Marlene had seen her. She was barely ten years old now, could it even be possible that she would remember her?

Then again, the kid was remembering five-ingredient cocktail recipes by the time she was _three_. So.

The girl furrowed her brow, slowly stepping closer to the Flower Girl. Aeris slid to her feet, leaning forward to be eye level with her as she approached. When they were close enough, Marlene looked her over, finally mustering up the courage to reach up and gently touch the long braid that hung over the woman's shoulder. A few seconds of quiet pondering and she looked up at her childhood hero.

"Aeris."

The Ancient breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, Marlene."

She let go of her hair and rushed in, throwing her arms around Aeris's waist and nearly squeezing the life out of her.

"They told me you went back to the Lifestream."

At that point, she threw a look of panic to Barret. The older man sprang into action.

"Baby, she _did_." When his daughter looked at him, confused, he waved his hand. "She was there, and now she's back."  
>"The Lifestream let me come back," Aeris took over, sitting back on the edge of her chair and holding Marlene by the shoulders. "To help Cloud and the others fight a new bad guy."<p>

Both adults seemed pleased with this explanation, until Denzel tilted his head.

"Does that mean you have to go back once the bad guy's gone?"

They both gaped. It was a thought that hadn't occurred to _anyone_, and it was a completely legit question.

"I," Aeris started, voice softening. "...I don't know."

The happy air in the room changed to a sad uncertainty, disrupted moments later by Elmyra shifting on the bed.

"Aeris..."

Everyone turned to look at her, the Ancient moving to sit closer and adjust the washcloth on her face.

"I'm here, Mother."  
>"Aeris..."<p>

A few seconds of anticipating silence, and Aeris shook her head.

"The cloth is warm." She pulled it away, standing up. "I'll go wet it and get her a glass of water."

Barret nodded, taking over from the other side while Marlene filled Aeris's vacant seat. She strode out of the room and down the hallway in a daze, mind wandering over things she didn't really want to think about.

(What if...what if I _do_ have to go back once this is all over? Will I have to _die _again?) She paused at the top of the stairs, absently pressing a hand over the scar on her abdomen. (At least I'll be with Zack...)

Somehow, the thought of her dark-haired warrior didn't calm the nerves that had begun to bundle in her stomach. Shaking her head, she started slowly down the steps, heart warming slightly at the sound of her friends' voices in the tavern below. Just as they came into view, she stopped.

Looking over them, she couldn't help the swell of emotion that crept into her throat. They had all changed so much- they'd all _been _through so much. Did she even really have a place to uphold with them as far as being alive went? Sure, there was a lot going on that she didn't understand yet, but even with all signs pointing to her being a huge piece of the puzzle, she distantly felt the pull of something bigger- more ominous- in the back of her mind. It made her feel as though everything happening was just a break in the reality of her being in the Lifestream.

It hadn't been that long since she'd been brought back to the living, but already she was forgetting what that kind of peace felt like. The only time she barely began to remember were moments like then- when she looked at her friends, the ones she'd helped to save the Planet with. Seeing them together, laughing, all of them wearing the memorial ribbon just for her... it made her happy.

She tried to smile.

Below, the bright blue eyes of one ex-SOLDIER looked up to spot her in the stairwell. She looked back, and for a moment time seemed to freeze altogether. Cloud gave a slight, awkward smile, and her face lit up in a laugh. He grinned.

Upon hearing the sound, Reeve looked up and watched as Aeris descended the stairs. He instantly forgot what he was talking about. Of course he'd seen her picture through the files his Sith had sent to him, but seeing her in person...that was altogether different. The older man gawked at her as she entered the room, cheeks flushing when she realized everyone was staring at her.

Beside the puppeteer, Yuffie coughed suggestively.

"Say something, idiot."

Reeve shot her a look, then glanced back up to Aeris, smiling. "It's good to see you again."  
>She nodded, reaching the bottom of the steps and turning for the kitchen. "Thank you, Reeve." When she was halfway there, she paused, turning back to him. "You didn't...happen to bring the new Cait Sith with you, did you?"<p>

The question wasn't meant to sound malicious by any means, but Reeve still couldn't help but be confused. "I did not...I was actually hoping to retrieve what I could from the most recent model before I finished a new one- to see if I could reuse some parts."

If Nanaki was capable of wincing, he would have done it. Instead, he threw a cautious, knowing look to Vincent, who looked up at the man.

"We actually did not bring the model with us. It is still in Costa del Sol."  
>"Oh...It didn't get washed out to sea, did it?"<br>"We buried him," Aeris cut in, having quickly gone into the kitchen to wet the cloth in her hand and grab a glass of water. "He's just outside the village, near the plain."

Reeve tilted his head curiously, but didn't address the question of 'why.' "Oh my... well. That poses a bit of...an obstacle." Looking around aimlessly, he finally gained his bearings and turned to Cid. "I may need to borrow a small ship to make a trip there."

Cid scratched his head. "Why?"  
>"Because the ship I came in on only dropped me off- it had to be back in Edge by morning, otherwise the President would have sent someone looking for it. I had hoped to come here and propose a plan to escort you to Kalm, where I have a safehaven-."<p>

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on." Cid waved his hands, leaned back in his chair and pulled a cigarette out to light. Before he could pull the lighter from his pocket, however, his wife lovingly reached up and snatched the cylinder from his lips, shaking her head.  
>"Not in the bar."<br>He snorted, then looked back to Reeve. "Before ya go tellin' us some huge plan, tell me why you need a ship to go back for yer cat."  
>"Surely the parts on the model can be replicated?" Cloud asked.<br>Reeve shook his head. "Not all of them." He dropped his gaze, somewhat embarrassed. "There was a part that I installed in this model, something I hadn't used before." He paused, the group's silence begging him to continue. "It was a piece of materia." Looking at Aeris for a moment, he quirked his lips apologetically. "The one given to me from your staff, actually."

Everyone in the room groaned.

"Well, shit." Cid pulled his gloves off and slapped them on the table, standing up. "Now we _gotta _go back."

Simultaneously, everyone began to clean up their plates, getting ready to go. Shera calmly sipped her tea, while Reeve looked completely lost.

"I'm sorry, have I missed something?"

Vincent hadn't moved from his seat. "Part of the reason Aeris was resurrected had to do with the materia from her Princess Guard- two of the orbs, to be exact. As it turns out, they're _all _part of a prophecy telling the story of an Ancient Princess."

He nodded. "Yes, I gathered all of this from Cait Sith's recordings, but why does this mean we _have _to go back for my model's orb?"

Everyone paused. They'd all forgotten that without his robot, Reeve was- quite literally- completely out of the loop. Slowly they all sat back down.

"Well," Cloud sighed, "for starters- Yuffie is the Ancient Princess."

Reeve furrowed his brow, glancing at the ninja, who waved like a crazy person.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Gods help us...Alright...what else?"  
>"The orbs are the key to defeating Vecena," Vincent went on. "Zack came to Aeris in a dream last night and told her the Lifestream had given him this information."<br>"Incredible," he breathed, looking up at the Ancient. "It seems- once again- you are the key to this Planet's survival."

Aeris rolled her eyes; she'd had enough of all this apocalyptic talk for the time being. Fortunately for her, Barret chose that moment to descend the stairs.

"She's awake," he said quietly. "She wants to see you."  
>"Thank you." She walked past him, leaving the rest of the team to get Reeve up to speed.<p>

"So I'm to understand, that in order to defeat this..._thing_...we need only to collect all nine materia and place them back in the staff?"  
>"It may not be that simple," Cloud shrugged. "These things are rarely a matter of finding all the pieces."<br>"Indeed." He agreed, leaning back in his chair. "In which case the idea I came to propose to you of going to Kalm seems to be more of a necessity than a favorable option."

"How's that?" Barret joined the conversation, pulling up a chair.

"It's where I have most of my intelligence equipment. I haven't been back there since my model came to you in the slums, so if anything's been picked up on this entire situation, it's waiting for us to come get it."

"Why would we all need to go with you for that?" Tifa, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke.  
>Her voice startled Reeve, and he looked at her hesitantly. "Safety, Tifa. To keep all of you...safe."<p>

There was an awkward pause; then Cid moaned, propping his feet up on the table and crossing his arms behind his head.

"Don't really see what _Kalm's _got that we ain't got here, Cat."

Reeve wrinkled his nose at the nickname, shaking his head. "Security, for one. Round the clock. I'm certain you all are busy enough without having to constantly worry about being ambushed."

He made a good point.

"For two," he went on. "I've obtained copies of nearly every manuscript held in the ShinRa Mansion library."  
>"Impossible," Vincent murmured. "Most of those books are hand-written."<br>"I sent a team to Nibelheim the day we realized most of the answers might be there. They've assured me that every book was scoured for information, and copies were made of nearly ninety-five percent of them."

The gunslinger hummed skeptically. "Even still, I am required to go there if we wish to retrieve all nine pieces of stone."

No one argued. Of _course _Vincent would have hidden his orb in the Mansion, it was his home.

"Then we should start collecting them tomorrow," Cloud concluded with a nod. "We can split up in the morning- those of us who already have our orbs can go with others to collect theirs."

"Splitting up," Yuffie muttered dully. "Because _that_ always works for this group."  
>"If you want, you can come with me to retrieve mine," Reeve offered, then, looking at Nanaki. "And I assume yours is still in Cosmo Canyon."<br>"It is," he sighed. "And we were _just_ there."  
>"It will be good to visit again, you might not be back for a while this time."<p>

Red nodded, and Cloud cleared his throat.

"I actually have mine here," he stood, walking toward the stairs. "I'll go get it."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

"I've missed you so much."

Tears welled in Aeris's eyes as she leaned into her mother's embrace, enjoying the distantly familiar feel of her strong arms around her.

"I've missed you too, Mother."

In the corner of the room, Marlene and Denzel played with a board game, seemingly oblivious to what was happening. Elmyra glanced over at them and laughed.

"She's grown so much since you saw her last."  
>Aeris smiled. "I was afraid she wouldn't recognize me."<br>"Oh," Elmyra turned back to her, resting a hand on the side of her face. "She could never forget you. She still wears her hair just like yours."

Aeris paused, looking at the young girl's pink-bowed braid. She hadn't noticed.

"So she does," she mused softly.

Outside the open door, the sound of heavy footsteps made their way across the hall. Both women looked up to watch as Cloud emerged from his room, fingers wound tight around a deep blue orb.  
>He would have passed right by, but he happened to glance up and see them staring at him. Letting out a nervous laugh, he ran his free hand through his hair and stepped into the room.<p>

"Hey." He looked at Aeris, then waved at Elmyra. "Miss Gainsborough."  
>"Always nice to see you, Cloud."<p>

"Is that your materia?" Aeris stood from the bed, eying the rock curiously.  
>"Yeah," he looked down at it as she approached, holding it up. "Not really sure which one it is. Just liked the color."<p>

She laughed softly, and his cheeks flushed. She always seemed to have that effect on him.

"Well, it suits you," she turned her head to get a better look at it, leaning closer. "I'm sure we'll find some information as to what it does once we get to Nibelheim."  
>Cloud looked at her. "We don't have to go to Nibelheim." When she furrowed her brow, he shook his head. "I mean, we <em>do<em>, but not for books. Reeve says he's got almost all of them copied and waiting for us in Kalm."  
>"Oh, well...alright then." She smiled, turning back to the wall for a moment to pull Princess Guard from the corner. "I guess we'll be able to figure out what exactly <em>this <em>one is supposed to be used for as well, hm?"

Holding the staff steady with one hand, she popped the Heart materia out with the other, lowering it to be level with the orb Cloud held.

It didn't take them long to notice when something started happening.

"They're glowing," he muttered.

As if they could hear him, the materia began to hum loudly.

Aeris shook her head slowly, fearful. "Cloud..."

They looked up at each other, and before they knew what was happening Aeris let go of her staff, reached out and gripped the ex-SOLDIER by the front of his armor. He in turn slid an arm behind her back, pulling her close.

The moment they made contact a light erupted from both orbs, enveloping them and turning their bodies into a shimmering glow before fading, leaving nothing and no one in its wake.

Elmyra screamed.  
>~~~~~~~~~~<p>

Downstairs, Reeve had continued explaining the benefits of relocating to Kalm (and had very nearly put both Cid _and _Barret to sleep) when the sound of Elmyra's shriek almost sent them all falling out of their seats.

For Barret, it was more than 'almost.'

"Elmyra!" The behemoth broke the wooden stool he sat on as he scrambled to get up, making for the stairs like a man on fire.

Cid followed soon after, pulling Venus Gospel from the wall just in case whatever had scared her was bigger than a rat. The rest of the group had stood in their haste, looking between each other hesitantly as they waited to hear some form of 'It's OK.'

Everyone except Yuffie, who- upon standing- suddenly realized the materia in her pocket was humming. Pulling it out, her eyes widened when she saw it glowing- the same, eerie glow it had shown the day it resurrected Aeris, and the day Rufus tried to use it to drain her soul.

"Yuffie."

Vincent's voice only drew her attention for a second, and she barely heard him tell her to 'put it down' when something akin to a shockwave rocked through her body.

Things went incredibly bright, and someone was yelling.

_"You have to get to Kalm!"  
>*********** <em>

_Beside the lake in the Forgotten City, a crippled Rufus ShinRa lay face down by the water, crying._

_"I can't die, not like this. I have so much to atone for, so much I haven't made right..."_

_The Geostigma on his skin pulsed, and he wretched with every breath, his death approaching slowly._

_"Please, give me another chance. I want to live."_

_Reaching out, the man spent what little energy he had left just to place his palm on the surface of the pool, where instantly a light began to shimmer. The water swirled, the illumination migrating into his hand and evaporating the sickness upon him. He breathed in sharply, the first full breath he'd taken in months- maybe even years- and sighed relief._

_But all was not calm. In the center of the water a figure rose, like a searing rod being pulled out of tar it crackled and glowed, dripping a blackness not unlike the one he'd just been healed of, until the dark began to melt away and revealed a figure...a woman._

_Now able to move, the young President stood, shielding his eyes from the light as it hovered only a few feet away. She was beautiful, and horrifyingly familiar._

_"...Aeris?"_  
><em>"Her form is the only one I have seen in years, so I'm afraid it is all I know to replicate- but no, I am not Aeris."<em>

_He gaped. She continued._

_"What I am, Rufus ShinRa. Is your savior. Come to free you of your vices, to purge you of your sickness, to forgive you of your sins."_

_Her glow settled, and Rufus was able to look at her directly, but he turned away quickly._

_"Where is your face? Are you a demon?"_  
><em>She laughed coldly. "They say the eyes are a doorway to your soul. I do not have a soul, therefore I do not require this aesthetic feature."<em>

_Rufus turned back to her hesitantly, another question close on his lips._

_"Silence!" She held up a hand, moving closer to him. "I grow tired of your inquiries. I am not a demon, I am a god, and you will do good to remember that. I am here to claim what is mine, dear Rufus ShinRa, and you...are going to help me."_

_The man was standing upright; characteristic fearless expression finding its way to his face as the creature neared him, sliding one elegant hand up to rest on his neck._

_"I have saved you from Death, and if you help me, I will give you the gift of immortality."_

_If he wanted to protest, the chance evaded him as a ring of dark green shimmered to life around his eyes, and he smiled sadistically._

_"Where shall we start, my lady?"_

_"My name, is Vecena." She released him, turning toward the City. "And we will start with Old Mideel."_

_****************  
>Yuffie opened her eyes, terrified to find herself sitting in a void of darkness. Before she could think of screaming, a bright light struck to life in front of her.<em>

_Her mother appeared, a look of great distress on her beautiful face._

_"Get them to Kalm, Yuffie. Your lives depend on it."_

_And then she was gone.  
>******************** <em>

"Yuffie!"

The ninja's eyes snapped open, and her scared gaze met Vincent's in front of her. She glanced down at the orb, seeing it was still glowing, and knew she didn't have much time. Reaching up, she pressed a hand to the side of his face, furrowing her brow.

"Get them to Kalm, Vincent- our lives depend on it."

Shock flashed in his eyes, but if he said anything, she didn't hear it. The white light returned to her body, and she disappeared.  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

**A/N: Please leave a review before you go!**

**And don't forget to check out Paint! It's almost done, and the events that happen in it are going to be more involved than I had initially intended.**

**Thanks again!**  
><strong>~Ari<strong>


	20. Chapter 20: Strings

**(A/N: Thank you to all of you who have been so patient! Please enjoy this chapter and leave a review before you go!)**

**Chapter Twenty: Strings  
><strong>

_16-year-old Yuffie sat in the forest that skirted the Forgotten City- eyes swollen, knees drawn to her chest as she tried desperately to keep down the sobs that racked her tiny body. She wanted to vanish. To dissolve into the world around her and never be found again. _

_That's what was going to happen to Aeris._

_The Flower Girl was dead- murdered, right in front of all of them. Sephiroth had driven his sword through her, and none of them had been able to stop him, not even Cloud. They'd all just stood there like a bunch of assholes, staring the Ancient until they saw her soul leave her eyes._

_Yuffie had screamed. If that counted for words, then she'd been the first one to speak. It had spurred everyone to action though; weapons were drawn and racing toward the hell-spawn until he disappeared, leaving them to relieve their rage on the monster he left in his wake. _

_He always did that- disappeared. Hell, he made it look so easy it frustrated Yuffie; why couldn't __she__ just...disappear?_

_"Tifa is looking for you."_

_The ninja nearly flew out of her skin. She shot Vincent a narrow look before turning away._

_"Don't you fucking breathe when you walk?"_

_"She's worried." He ignored her outburst, as usual. _

_"She shouldn't be," she sniffled, "I'm fine."_

_"You're crying."_

_"Oh, is that what this is?!" She crowed, turning to him and wiping her eyes. "I was beginning to worry I'd sprung a leak!"_

_He stared at her. She stared back, uncertain whether she was infuriated or jealous of his complete lack of emotion. She eventually decided she was too exhausted to feel anything other than sorrow. Turning from him again, she wrapped her arms around her knees._

_"I'm not ready to go back yet."_

_He didn't reply, but he didn't move, either. He just stood behind her, quiet. _

_"She didn't even cry," Yuffie murmured, not caring if he was listening. "She just...died. Why would she do that? How could she? Why would she just give up-?"_

_"She didn't give up," he interrupted, and she was surprised to hear his tone sounded insulted. "Aeris's fight was much bigger than any of us could have fathomed. So much so that she alone was a threat to Sephiroth himself."_

_"What could have possibly made her so dangerous?"_

_"I doubt even she knew. She probably wasn't entirely certain of what secrets the Planet was keeping from her, or what it might have told her ancestors years ago. The Ancients are an aged, mysterious people."_

_"That means a lot, coming from the guy who's like a bazillion years old."_

_He hummed. She couldn't see his face, but she was pretty sure he was smiling. It only made her feel better for a second._

_"My mother didn't cry either." She'd breathed the confession, but her heart was so numb it didn't pain her to share it._

_Vincent paused. "When she died."_

_"It was some kind of mako-sickness," she went on, "she'd had it for as long as I could remember. When the night came that she...that it took her- I still couldn't believe it. I wasn't ready. But it didn't matter."_

_"Death has a way of not doing anyone any favors."_

_She couldn't be certain, but Yuffie thought she might have heard humor in his voice- it didn't help. She exhaled slightly; the thoughts of her mother made the sore knot in her throat tighten again. Lowering her head to her arms, she quietly resumed crying._

_It wasn't until she heard the sound of his metal boots in the dirt that she realized Vincent hadn't left. In fact, he'd come closer, and was in the process of sitting down beside her. He never said a word- not that she'd expected him to- all he offered was the comfort of his silence which, in all its irony, made her feel less alone._

_A long time passed where they sat in the Forest. She knew it had been a while because when she'd first ran off the sun had been high above them, and now it was setting beyond her sight. Night was coming, and it set the silver trees aglow with an array of fiery-bright color. _

_Still, it's beauty was lost on her. All she could think about were Aeris and her mother._

_"Does it hurt?" She lifted her face from her arms and turned slightly toward him. "To die?"_

_He glanced at her, and she averted her gaze. No one else in the group would have dared to ask him such a question, but this was Yuffie. For someone as young as she was, she'd dealt more with death and fighting-for-her-life scenarios than most people twice her age. She was a child, but her spirit was much, much older._

_"Only for a moment." He said, looking back to the trees. "Death crawls over you like a fire, filling your lungs and stopping your heart...then you get cold. Then, all at once, you're warm again, and you're in a place where nothing can hurt you. All you feel is...light."_

_If she'd been able to control herself, she would have just nodded, or at least said 'thank you.' But she couldn't, and before she could stop herself Yuffie had turned and buried herself into Vincent's chest, sobbing. He hesitated at first- not used to having a girl literally fall on him in a mess of tears- but, after a few awkward seconds, he found it in him to hold her, and let her cry until she couldn't anymore.  
>-<em>

Yuffie sat upright, sucking in short, cold breaths of air.

What had happened? Where was she? Where was everyone else?

"Vinnie?" His name tripped off her lips in a panic, but it didn't take long for her to see she was alone. Completely alone. All that surrounded her was a vast, white nothingness- something that reminded her of the ShinRa tent at the Forgotten City...

The thought of that room- with the tall, steel table- was enough to push her to her feet. She looked around- good, no table. No table, no bodies, no Vecena.

"Where...am I?"

As if the void could hear her, the ground beneath her feet began to crack- first, just under her shoes, then spreading out like a spiderweb.

"Oh, that can't be good," she mumbled, watching the damage branch out until it finally hit walls, outlining the apparent box she was in. It climbed on all four sides around her, hitting an invisible ceiling, then coming together overhead. Once she was surrounded everything began to tremble.

She didn't have time to scream- even if she had, it would have been drowned out by the deafening shatter of everything around her. Yuffie dropped to the floor, closing her eyes and covering her head as she anticipated being crushed to death, but it never happened.

The crashing was replaced by silence, followed by the sound of a shamisen. Yuffie opened her eyes and found herself standing in Wutai.

"What the hell...?"

It was dusk; the buildings around her looked freshly painted- glistening in the setting sunlight- and there was soft, sad music playing in the square. She could tell it was her home, but it looked..._new._

A pained scream caught her attention and she turned to the Pagoda. The torches on the balcony of the top tier were lit and there were several people standing near the base. Yuffie walked toward the commotion. Passing through the crowd she made her way up the stairs, heart wrenching in her chest as the scream sounded again. It was familiar. _Very _familiar.

As she reached the top level she paused, breath catching in her throat when her eyes came to rest on the childhood form of herself sitting on the edge of the deck- arms draped over the lower rung of the railing as she swung her feet carelessly off the side. In the room behind her, there were several healers and maids swarming about a cot in the floor. Beside it knelt Godo, his rough, callous hand gently holding the starkly pale one of his wife- her Mother.

"Oh, gods," Yuffie breathed. "This is _not _good."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<p>

"For_ fuck's _sake!"

Everyone watched in silence as Cid stomped down the stairs, flipped a table over, then lit a cigarette.

"Can't we have just one _goddamn_ normal day?!"

Ignoring him, Nanaki looked to Vincent, who was still staring at where Yuffie had just been.

"She said something about Kalm?"

"To get there," he nodded, barely shaking his stupor. "That their 'lives depended on it.'"

Tifa tilted her head. "'Their'...?"

"Cloud an' Aeris are gone." Barret's deep, obviously disturbed voice came from the top of the stairs. Everyone looked at him as he walked down. "Myra said somethin' happened with the materia, then they vanished." He motioned to Shera. "Go check on her, will ya? She's tryin' ta hold it together up there and Marlene and Denzel keep askin' questions."

Shera stood, glancing at Tifa. "Come with me?"

She nodded, swallowing hard as she followed the older woman upstairs. Once they were gone, Barret flopped down in the nearest chair.

"What a fuckin' mess."

"I don't suppose anyone knows why she said 'Kalm'?" Tseng asked.

No one did.

"I can't be certain," Vincent started carefully, "but just before she said it, she seemed to be looking at something. Maybe she saw something- or someone- that told her to warn us?"

"Perhaps." Nanaki shook his mane, slinking from his chair to the floor. "In any case, I don't believe Yuffie would have declared something like that if she didn't mean it. We should hurry to Kalm."

Everyone agreed, all eyes turning to Cid. The old pilot took a moment to notice. When he did, he snorted.

"Fine. Someone go get Tifa and we'll be outta here soon as I get that goddamn materia outta my house." He slung his weapon over his shoulder, grumbling angrily as he stomped out the door. "Fuckin' hocus-pocus _bullshit..._"

As the group assembled to leave, Vincent quietly pondered the seriousness of the situation, and he worried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>Cloud was floating.<p>

Or falling...or flying? He couldn't really tell. All he felt was the wind whipping about him, in no particular pattern at all, and all he could see was darkness. Despite the sudden change of scenery- having gone from the inside of 7th Heaven to nothingness- he wasn't afraid. Over the years he'd been through enough that when things like this occurred he could only think "This might as well happen."

(The orbs must have done something.) He thought, not noticing that the faintest bit of light had started to glow around him. (I hope Aeris is OK.)

The thought of the flower girl being in danger made him more nervous than the void he was in. Ever since she'd returned, the feelings Cloud had been sure he'd moved past had begun trickling back. The protectiveness, the apprehension, the admiration...

He shook his head. (That's an old storyline, and it does no one any good to think on it now.)

The light around him had grown so bright that he couldn't help but notice it finally. Looking around, he saw the world beginning to come into focus. Like a reflection on water after it's been disturbed, everything wavered- fast at first, then slowly settling into place. When everything was still, Cloud found himself standing upright, feet firm on the altar pillar of the Forgotten Capitol.

"How...?" He asked no one. The place was supposed to be gone- just days ago, it _had _been- buried underwater with all of its terrible secrets and memories. How could he be standing in it then? It seemed so perfectly preserved and..._dry._

"Maybe I _am_ dead."

"You're not."

Cloud spun around, hand grasping for the hilt of Ultima Weapon until he saw Aeris. She was leaning against the rail of the altar, an amused look playing over her face as he relaxed.

"You're safe." He noticed she didn't seem alarmed at their surroundings. "Do you know where we are?"

"Mm," she nodded, dropping her arms and crossing to the opening at the front of the pillar. "We're in the 'In Between.'"

"The...'In Between'?"

"The Grey-Plane." She explained. "A purgatory of sorts, you might say. It's where Spirits who won't choose where to go are put until they can make a decision."

"And you said we're _not_ dead." He smirked when she shot him a look. "I thought when you died your soul went back to the Planet."

"It does, but there are different parts of the Planet that it can go to- the land, the air, the energy- all of these things are produced and maintained by the Lifestream. Most souls will just give themselves over to it and let the Lifestream decide for them- let it use them where they're needed- others want to choose."

Never being much for the spiritual stuff, Cloud nodded carelessly. "So they get sent here."

"'Here' in the general sense, yes. Most Spirits go to a place where their subconscious laid anchor at some point in their life. Somewhere they feel something very important happened. Not everyone in the In Between will come to the Forgotten City."

"Then who would?"  
>"Me."<br>He hesitated. "But...you're..."  
>"I <em>was <em>dead," she shrugged. "When I first died, this was one of the places I went. Maybe that's why we're here now."

She walked the circle of the altar, calmly admiring the Capitol. Cloud scratched the back of his neck.

"You wanted to choose where you went? Back then, I mean."  
>She laughed softly. "Not exactly. Mine was a special case, I think." She looked at him. "I had unfinished business."<p>

Silence. Cloud's heart ached, and he hung his head.

"I tried to save you, you know."  
>She turned to him, eyebrows wound down as if she were looking at a puppy. "Cloud, I didn't mean it like that-."<br>"But_ I _did," he tensed. "I should have done something, Aeris. I should have _been_ here."  
>"You <em>were<em> here," she crossed to him, placing a hand on his arm. "Maybe you were a little _late..._"  
>He looked up at her, eyebrows raising when he saw her trying to fight a smile. "...You think this is funny?"<br>"A little, yes." She quirked her lips. "Cloud, you've got to let it _go_. I died for a reason. It happened, it's over. I came back when you needed me, and now..." She sighed. "Now, I don't know what's going on.

He was only partly disappointed. When it came to classes on the 'beyond' Aeris had always been the one to go to, but sometimes he felt it was better not to know everything.

"We should go," she muttered. "I don't like it here."

Of course she wouldn't like it there- she'd _died _there.

He nodded, feeling a little guilty for not making the suggestion himself as he followed her off the altar. A few minutes of quiet passed as they made their way across the stepping stones and up the stairs. They walked through the capitol building to reach the streets and, when they were finally outside, stopped to admire the thick fog that covered the city.

"Is it usually this hazy in the spirit world?" Cloud asked.

"Only when..." Her voice trailed off, and at first he wondered if she'd just forgotten why, but when he looked at her, he saw her face had paled.  
>"What?" He looked around, her silence making him nervous. "Aeris, 'only when' what?"<br>"Only when _she's _present." She whispered.

He didn't get to ask who 'she' was because something much more urgent started to happen. From the dusty ground around them, flowers began to spring up and bloom. They made a path out of the city and into the forest; without hesitation, Aeris quickly followed their direction.

"Aeris?" He walked after her, pushing into a jog when he noticed she was getting too far ahead of him for his comfort. "Hey, slow down!"

The trail led into the forest, and she didn't stop for one second. Although Cloud had been able to see her up to that point, the moment she crossed the threshold she disappeared.

"Aeris!" He wasn't nervous anymore, he was afraid. The Ancient might have been calm, but usually the dynamic of her 'knowing what she was doing' and him being in the dark didn't have a great outcome. He ran to the treeline, calling out to her again. When she didn't answer, he drew Ultima Weapon and darted in after her.

"Where are you? For Ifrit's sake, say something!"  
>"Cloud..."<p>

As if the trees had opened to lead him to her, he turned and saw the flower path blooming straight to a clearing where she stood. She was looking at something out of his line of sight, and her eyes were wide.

He wasted no time rushing to reach her and face whatever it was that had her speechless. The only thing that he could think of that would put a look like that on her face was Sephiroth...

But it wasn't him. It was a woman. A tall, blonde woman.

Even still, Cloud was in attack mode. Holding Ultima Weapon steady, he pulled Aeris behind him and faced her.

"Who are you? What do you want?"  
>Aeris gasped. "Cloud, no!"<p>

She tried to grab his arm and pull him out of her way, but he shrugged her off, eyes never leaving the person in front of them.

"Are you working for Vecena? Answer me!"  
>"Oh my gods!" Aeris went from alarmed to terrified, but not for reasons Cloud thought he knew. Pushing past him, the Ancient flung herself to the ground between them, her head lowered.<p>

"Please, Goddess, don't harm him- he doesn't know who you are!"

Cloud paused, confused. The woman looked at Aeris with kindness her eyes.

"Fear not, daughter of Ifalna, I come not to bring you pain. His ignorance does not offend me. Many people of your world would not recognize me today."

She lifted her gaze to Cloud, allowing her crystal stare to pierce through him. At once he realized she was Minerva, the consciousness of the Planet. The presence of her power washed over him, and he was ashamed.

He turned his head. "I..."  
>"There is no need for apologies, Cloud Strife." Her voice was calm, and sent a warmness into his bones. "I know your heart."<p>

He hesitated, then sheathed his sword and looked down at Aeris, who hadn't moved from the ground. Stepping forward he crouched beside her, took her by the shoulders, and pulled her into his arms. She was trembling.

Minerva watched them, a gentle smile on her beautiful face. "Such strong hearts," she said quietly, "But you are both so, so torn."

Aeris dared to look up. The Goddess held out her hand.

"Arise, my children. I have much to tell you before Leviathan brings me the Ancient Princess of Wutai."  
>~~~~~~~~~~~~<p> 


	21. Chapter 21: Reminder

**Chapter Twenty-One: Reminder****  
><strong>

The screaming continued.

Yuffie stood near the balcony door, arms folded and brow furrowed as she watched her mother moan in agony. She never begged for death, never cried; she only screamed to release the pain. It was all she _could _do.

Beside her sat Godo, stone-faced as usual. Every once in a while his eyes would soften at his wife's groaning- which was more emotion than his daughter had seen him show in the last fifteen years or so. The people around them had been dismissed, which meant it wouldn't be much longer.

Yuffie wanted to sit beside her mother- to hold her hand. But the stubborn, logical part of her mind reminded her sternly that this was just a flashback- no one here could see or hear her, much less _feel _her- there was no reason for her to relive this terrible moment in her life.

At least, no reason that she could think of.

"I don't want to go inside."

From where she was she could hear her six-year-old self whining to one of the men that waited with her on the deck.

(Typical.) Crossing to the door, she leaned on the frame and watched as little-Yuffie swung her legs hard in protest.

"I want to stay _here_!"  
>"But Yuffie, if you stay out here, how will you see your mother?"<p>

Older-Yuffie snorted. The man talking to her was Tseng. How had she forgotten that?

"I can see her fine from here," she grumbled, glancing at her dying mother before resuming her scowling.  
>"But your father-."<br>"His _name_ is _Godo-."_

"Yuffie."

The sound of her name falling from weak lips barely carried to where they were, but it instantly made the girl quiet. She turned to see her mother's raised hand.

"Come here, sweet girl."

As if she'd never said she didn't want to go in Yuffie stood and walked into the room, taking a seat on her knees opposite of Godo and wrapping her fingers around her Mother's.

"Yes, Mother?"

Kasumi smiled weakly at her daughter, her eyes bright despite her fading spirit.

"You'll always be strong, won't you?"  
>"As long as I have you, Mother."<br>Kasumi sighed. "Of course. You will_ always_ have me, Yuffie," she removed her hand from Yuffie's grip and placed it on her chest. "Right here."  
>"Mother..."<p>

They sat quietly, and Kasumi turned her eyes back to the ceiling.

"The time will come," she breathed, "when the Planet will need you, Yuffie. When your Ancient ancestors will need you."

Grown-up Yuffie had only been watching loosely up to that point, but her mother's quiet words caught her attention. She looked down at the scene in the floor.

(...What?)

"You have a gift, my love. There are so many things you don't know about your bloodline. So much I wanted to teach you."  
>Beside her, Godo shook his head. "Kasumi..."<p>

Yuffie shook her head, too. (How do I _not _remember this?) She looked at her younger self to see she was playing with one of the ribbons on her skirt. (Oh, well...Okay.)

"Godo," she didn't move; her focus seemed to be set on something only she could see above them. "Teach her. Train her to be a warrior. Raise her to be the Princess she was meant to be, with or without a guardian."

(Guardian?)

"I-," the old man started, then hung his head. "I will do my best, my love."

Kasumi breathed relief, closing her eyes. In her moment of silence the music from the square could be heard playing gently below.

"Such a beautiful sound," she murmured. "I should hope...I always hear such beautiful music...wherever I..."

Yuffie closed her eyes, a few tears escaping down her cheeks. It was hard, watching her mother die...again. But it was a scene she'd replayed in her mind a million times growing up, so in some aspect her heart had been hardened to the memory. Inhaling deeply, she reopened her eyes to the vision in front of her, bracing herself for what came next.

"Mother?" her childhood voice squeaked as she began to cry. "Mother...?!"  
>Across from her, Godo glared. "Yuffie, stop it."<br>She didn't. Instead, she began sobbing, and her father's eyes became dark.  
>"I said <em>enough<em>!"

The old man reach over his dead wife and grabbed his daughter by the back of her neck. In a bitter rage he dragged her to the tier door and shoved her out to the deck. When she hit the wood she skinned her knees, but didn't move; she covered her face and continued crying.

"Your tears are an embarrassment," he spat. "Your mother is free of her pain. It is selfish for you to lament her this way!"

Tseng, who hadn't left his post outside the door, stepped between them.

"Master Godo-."  
>"Get her out of here," he growled, storming back into the dojo and pulling the curtain behind him. Yuffie sat up, sniffling and wiping her eyes. The Turk turned to her.<p>

"Yuffie, are you alright?"  
>"Go away," she hiccupped, "leave me alone..."<br>Concerned, he crouched beside her. "Your Father is a good man, Yuffie. He loves you."  
>"<em>Leave me alone!"<em>

She got up and ran, indifferent to the blood dripping from her knees. As she took off down the stairs she passed _through _her older, invisible self, who watched the living memory with slight amusement as down the Pagoda she went, ignoring the calls of family and friends as she raced by them. Several of her caretakers gave chase, but she was much faster than all of them and quickly disappeared into the crowd that had formed in the square to mourn the loss of their beloved Kasumi.

Tseng stood, looking out over the village with a small sigh before turning and entering into the dojo with Godo. Outside the thick curtain Yuffie heard their muffled voices, but she couldn't understand what they were saying. Curious, she reached up to move the cover- but an invisible seal blocked her.

The omnipotent voice of her mother echoed around her. _"This memory is not yours to witness."_  
>Yuffie sighed, too drained to question the entire 'my mother's ghost is haunting me' situation- or her own sanity. She decided it best to just leave the deck and go find herself...literally.<p>

"I wish _none _of this was mine to witness," she replied as she walked, making her way through the village to the place she knew she was hiding.

The tavern was somber for the occasion. There were only a few people at the bar- all of them older men, no one she recognized. In front of them Johnny's grandfather stood, drying off a row of freshly cleaned glasses as he listened to his customers talk about Yuffie's mother.

"Won't be long now."  
>"It's a shame. She was the only thing keepin' Godo strong against ShinRa."<br>"Wonder what'll happen now that she's gone?"  
>"Who knows. Whatever he does, I hope that kid of theirs turns out alright."<br>"Yeah, well," Johnny's grandfather grunted, leaning on the bar. "It'll be hard for her if he _does_ sell out. All I know's I'm movin' _my_family to Midgar if he signs this place over."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. Apparently none of them had seen her run in. Walking along the side of the room, she looked for the booth she vaguely recalled cowering under. If her memory served correct there was some poor, unsuspecting oaf enjoying a drink above her, completely unaware he was shielding her from sight.

When she found the man, she knew she'd found the booth, but what she didn't expect to find was Vincent Valentine.

She froze, her mind going completely numb. He was younger- probably mid-twenties- and he looked..._normal. _His hair was trim and he wore a suit. Everything about him spelled Turk, and nothing about him seemed haunted.

"This isn't happening," Yuffie turned from the table, rubbing her temples as she tried to grasp the situation. "_How _could Vincent have been in Wutai the day you died? I thought he was locked up in the basement of ShinRa Mansion-."

_"This was before his time in Nibelheim," _Kasumi's voice entered her mind. _"When he was training."_

"Stop it," she whimpered. "Please, just stop." Spinning back to the table, she groaned. "This is too much. Why did I need to know he was here? Like things weren't already weird enough!"

As if the Planet had decided that her mother's voice alone wasn't enough anymore, Kasumi appeared. Startled, the ninja tripped over her own feet and crashed to the floor with a squeak.

_"Fate, Yuffie. Fate needs you to understand that yours and Vincent's lives were bound together long before either of you knew you would become friends- before either of you realized you're in love."_

The ninja choked. "_Love!?"_

"I can hear you, you know."

Yuffie jumped at the sound of Vincent's voice. She looked at him, relaxing when she saw he wasn't talking to her.

Well, he _was_ talking to her- just not _her, _her.

"Go away," her young self scowled as she curled into a smaller ball.  
>"I was here first," he replied dully. "<em>You <em>go away."

"What a dick!" grown-Yuffie howled, then shriveled under her Mother's sharp look. "...Sorry."

"This is _my_ hiding spot," little-Yuffie argued. "I _live_ here."  
>"That's unlikely. People don't usually <em>live <em>in their 'hiding spot.'"

The girl huffed, then pinched the Turk's leg. Vincent only twitched, then very coolly reached under the table and tapped her head with the lightest of Bolt spells. The Princess squealed, popping up in the booth across from him.

"That hurt, you jackass!"  
>He smirked. "Big words for someone hiding under a table."<br>She pouted. "I could have you thrown out of here, you know!"  
>"Oh, you could?" he raised an eyebrow, amused. "On whose authority?"<p>

Grown Yuffie stood and watched as the man who'd worn a cold, quiet mask since the day they 'met' chuckled at the child in front of him. There was a light in his eyes, a _life _in them, something she'd never seen before. Something that must have been taken away during his time in Hojo's captivity.

While the thought of Hojo stealing that light broke Yuffie's heart, the sight of him as a normal man- smiling, teasing- made her skin prickle. All at once the suggestion that she might, well...you know...didn't sound so terrifying.

"Yuffie, what are you doing here?"

Johnny's grandfather finally caught sight of the hellion, and she writhed in her seat when every man at the bar turned to look at her.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the Pagoda with your mother?"  
>"Does your Father know you're gone?"<p>

As if to answer their questions the village gong sounded in the square, signaling the passing of Kasumi. All at once the bar was quiet, and Yuffie shifted in her seat awkwardly. Across from her, Vincent furrowed his brow.

"You're Godo's daughter."  
>"I'm not going back there," she protested before he even thought to mention it. "You can't make me."<p>

He looked at the bartender and the regulars. When they all averted their eyes, he quirked his lips and looked on Yuffie with pity. She didn't move.

"He doesn't want me there anyway."  
>"I'm sure that isn't true."<br>"It is," she piped, looking at him with wide eyes. "He threw me out right after..."

The thought of her mother dying brought her back to tears, and she buried her face in her arms on the table. Vincent frowned. Beside them, one of the patrons stood from his chair.

"Dammit child, you need to get back to the dojo- this isn't the time for runnin' off and actin' foolish."

He moved to grab her by the arm, but Vincent held up a hand.

"I'll take her."

The man narrowed his eyes. "And just who the hell are you?"

Not taking kindly to his tone the gunslinger rose from his seat, towering a good foot above the old drunk and looking down at him darkly.

"My name is none of your concern, sir. But what I _am _is someone you don't want to anger."

Older Yuffie didn't realize it, but she'd _literally _stopped breathing. Clasping her hands to the side of her face was all she could manage to do as she watched the man sit back down, paling when one of his friends leaned in and whispered "He's a Turk." Vincent then turned to the girl in the booth and offered her his hand.

"We'll be going now."

Quickly and quietly she obeyed, taking his hand and pulling herself to stand. She hobbled a few steps- knees finally beginning to feel sore from the scrapes; the Turk saw her wounds and, without hesitation, reached down and picked the Princess up, letting her straddle his hip as he carried her out of the bar.

_"Breathe, girl."_

Yuffie sharply did so at the command of her mother. Recovering from her shock, she followed the two outside.

They had stopped at the square, where Vincent set her down to look at her scrapes. _This _she remembered. The kind stranger who had taken the time to heal her. She hadn't known what materia was at the time, and the magic he used frightened her- having only seen it used unsuccessfully on her mother or for fighting- but the moment the soreness stopped she'd smiled, thanking him in her own, shy, 'little-girl' way.

Shortly after that moment one of her maidservants spotted her from the crowd ahead, and rushed to retrieve her. Yuffie didn't protest, but watched the tall man as long as she could see him while she was dragged back to the Pagoda.

When she was finally out of sight Vincent stood upright, shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned and went back to the bar.

"Poor kid."

The door shut behind him. When it did, everything and everyone in the village faded away and Yuffie was left alone in the square.

It didn't faze her. Looking around, she shook her head.

"I still don't understand how a _chance _meeting when I was six is supposed to mean we're bound by Fate."

In an instant the world around her dimmed and she was standing in a void. Like the very first time- when she'd initially disappeared- a flame sparked to life in front of her, and she saw her mother.

_"The Planet chose you long ago, Yuffie. You were meant to protect it from an evil it couldn't prevent- to __save__ it from one who would be born of its Spirit, and can only be defeated by materia given to __your __Ancient ancestors thousands of years ago."_

"There," she held up a hand. "_Right_ there- _my_ 'Ancient ancestors'? But I'm not-."  
><em>"Yes," <em>Kasumi cut her off. _"You are. And your Guardians were chosen as they came into your life to protect you, whether you realized it or not."  
><em>Yuffie hesitated. "So...Vinnie is one of my 'Guardians.'"  
>She nodded. "<em>Oh, my child...there are so many things you still do not know. Things your Father was supposed to teach you as you grew..."<br>_Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Of course. Godo _failed _to do something when he raised me. Big surprise."

Her mother looked pained by her words. Yuffie cringed inwardly.

"I'm sorry."  
><em>"He is a good man, Yuffie. You will soon see that."<em>

"Right," she murmured. "Do I get to go back now? I'll bet the others are worried sick-."  
><em>"There is one thing more I have to show you." <em>Kasumi waved a hand, fading into the light. _"Something you need to know if you wish to understand how to fulfill your destiny."_

The flame disappeared, and Yuffie found herself back Wutai. This time it was the Wutai she _knew_. She was on the bridge leading into the village; the lantern at the end flickered weakly in the rain, but she didn't need it to know where the road was.

Just ahead the tavern was open- and it looked just as it had the last time she saw it. Feeling a twinge of relief she made a beeline for the door.

It wasn't until she was a few steps away that something clicked- the door was open. Johnny always propped the bar door opened when it rained, because he liked the smell of the wet earth.

...But Johnny couldn't have propped the door open. Johnny was dead.

Slowing her eager pace, Yuffie made her approach with caution. Peering inside, she groaned.

"I swear to _Titan_ if I come out of this and find out I've been kidnapped by the Turks again and this was all just some goddamn drugged-up-_coma-_dream I'm going to take Reno by his pretty-boy face and knee him in the fucking _throat_."

There was Johnny, mixing drinks behind the bar. There were no bullet holes in the walls, no blood stains on the floor, no sign of a shootout at all. And there _she _was, sitting on a barstool off to the side, sipping on a drink and playing on her phone.

Rolling her eyes, present-time Yuffie folded her arms and walked inside, taking a seat in a booth off to the side.

"Alright. Let's do this."

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~_  
>"<em>Rufus ShinRa isn't himself."

Aeris and Cloud stood in the flower-speckled clearing of Minerva's Ancient Forest "In Between." It hadn't been long since she'd begun to explain their purpose in this new battle, but already things didn't make sense.

"I don't think that man has ever truly been 'himself," the Flower Girl replied.  
>Cloud agreed. "He may be quiet from time to time, but ShinRa's greed for power never stays away for long."<p>

"He repented once," the Goddess went on calmly, looking at Aeris. "On the bank of your Lake. He begged for forgiveness and healing. That's when she found him."

They exchanged lost expressions. Aeris tilted her head.

"Vecena?"  
>"Mm," Minerva nodded. "She came to him in his moment of weakness and granted him peace from his illness. Little did he know he would pay for it with his soul."<br>"He's possessed," Aeris concluded. "So he really _isn't_ himself."  
>"Who is Vecena?" Cloud asked. "<em>What <em>is she?"

"Vecena is the result of hatred, heartbreak and greed intertwining and taking physical form." Minerva walked the length of the clearing, clasping her hands in front of her. "It is a manifestation of every truly evil soul that has gone back to the Planet. Finding one another in the Lifestream, they have joined together in their despair to take revenge on Gaia."

The ex-SOLDIER could only stare at the woman as she continued her pacing. Beside him, Aeris cleared her throat.

"Goddess, how can that be? Is there not a way the Lifestream can keep those souls from gathering? In all the years of the Planet's existence, surely something like this has happened before?"

"There _is_ a strain of the Lifestream that keeps a greater part of the Planet's darkness, but that is a story for someone else at another time. _This _phenomenon, however, cannot be controlled by Gaia, and _has_ happened before- in a time long before the oldest of your ancestors found their hand and began writing the stories of the Ancients. A creature- known then as Altria- came to be in the Northern part of the world. It was born under the same conditions as Vecena, and threatened to destroy humanity in an attempt to harness the Lifestream. Warriors came from every corner of the Planet. Many fell, but there was one- an Ancient of great heart- who used the power of her spirit to defeat the being. The warrior was protected by three Guardians- one of them another Ancient-." she paused to look at Aeris. "That was _your _ancestor."

Aeris smiled slightly, a small trickle of pride running into her heart at the thought of coming from a long line of defenders of the Planet.

Minerva continued. "Your ancestor went back to his village on the Central continent. The other Guardians also returned to their towns of origin. Both of them went on to father long lines of innovative researchers- namely Dr. Grimoire Valentine and Professor Hojo.

"Hojo!" they both echoed incredulously, seeming to completely miss Vincent's father's name.

Cloud crossed his arms. "If his family passed that story down through the years, that may explain why he wanted to researched it."  
>"But it doesn't explain where the materia came from," Aeris pointed out. "Or what they're for."<p>

"The Jenova materia were created in anticipation of this feud," the Goddess was all too eager to explain. "It was said that the reason Jenova chose to crash on Gaia was because of the amount of power the Lifestream emitted from the Northern Continent- coincidentally the same place Altria was born. When the Cetra sealed the monster inside the Crater she had created, they found that her alien presence- along with their ability to draw power from the Lifestream- made it possible to forge extremely powerful materia from the Mako that pooled in the Crater."

Overwhelmed, Aeris sat in the grass, taking in the new information slowly. "So they made the Jenova materia."  
>Cloud moved to stand beside her. "But how did they know they needed to?"<p>

"The Warrior," she turned to face them. "The one who defeated Altria- chose to settle her life on the Western Continent, where she married and started a family. When it came to pass that Jenova was to be sealed away, they called on her long-descended grandson to help. Upon entering the Crater, the Planet spoke to the young man, warning him of the evil to come- of Vecena. It was after he shared the knowledge of this threat that the Cetra decided to create the materia- nine pieces in all- and spread them over the Planet. When the time came, they would be brought together again and placed inside the weapon of a Guardian, who would keep them until they could be used by the next Ancient Princess."

Waving a hand, Minerva summoned a dark, stone fountain to rise from the ground. Sitting on its edge, she gazed into the water.

"The young man- the Warrior's descendant- continued his lineage on the Western Continent, and through the years the legend of their purpose was passed down until twenty-one years ago, when the Princess of Wutai was born."

"Yuffie," Aeris stood, pressing a hand over her mouth.

The Goddess nodded. Humming softly, she touched her fingers to the surface of the water, and it began to glow.

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

The sun was setting on Rocket Town as the group began collecting on the airship.

In 7th Heaven Barret stood outside Elmyra's room, frowning at the sight of her staring listlessly out the window.

"Myra."

She only glanced at him. Shaking his head, he entered the doorway.

"We're gonna get her back. We're gonna get all of 'em back."  
>"I learned a long time ago, Barret," she started slowly, "that sometimes things go away, and you <em>can't <em>get them back. You just...can't."

Unable to take her heartache the large man crossed to her and took her by the arm, turning her to face him. She didn't fight it, and leaned into his embrace.

"This ain't over, 'Myra. I don' know what happened, but I'm gonna find out, and I swear to you, we'll get her back."

...-...-...-...

"It's in here, I know it is."

Shera leaned against one of the sawhorses in her husband's workshop, watching with bittersweet amusement as he tore through the shelves around them mercilessly in search of his materia.

"Where was the last place you had it?"  
>"If I knew that, <em>dearest<em>, I wouldn't be lookin' for it now, would I?"

She snickered, crossing to the sink in the corner and kneeling down to rummage through a basket beneath it. Several minutes passed as Cid continued to storm about, swearing under his breath and nearly lighting a cigarette twenty times or so, all the while overturning boxes, emptying baskets, and making an overall mess of the place.

He never noticed when his sweet, sweet assistant returned to the sawhorse behind him holding a balled-up shop-towel in her hands. At least, not until she cleared her throat.

"Yeah?" he jerked around, face souring when he saw she'd found it and was silently laughing at him. "Where was it?"  
>"In the basket under the sink. The one you labeled 'materia'?"<p>

The old pilot huffed, looking to the basket. Sure enough, the word "materia" was printed on the side in permanent marker. He let out a sound of disgust.

"I can't write worth a damn, Shera- you know that! Yer the only one who coulda ever read that."

The woman gave a small, knowing smile. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I was here then."

Cid snorted, his temper melting instantly at her good nature. Walking to meet her, he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled the towel away from the materia with his free-hand.

The orb was a deep yellow- not too unlike the command materia he carried in Venus Gospel. Inside, it almost looked like a storm was happening- complete with swirling clouds and sparks of lightning.

Before he could pluck it from the rag, Shera pulled it away.

"Maybe you shouldn't touch it," she worried. "At least, not until you find the others."

Understanding her concern he covered it back up. Taking it carefully from her hands, he tucked it- still wrapped- into an open pocket on his utility belt.

He kissed the top of her head. "Gotta get goin', Sher."

Before he could walk too far, though, her quivering voice whispered behind him.

"Come back to me."

Cid stopped, turning back slowly. Seeing the fear and love in her eyes moved him in the worst way, and he rushed to hold her.

"Of course I'll come back to you. I'll _always _fuckin' come back to you, do you hear me?"

She nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks as he took her face in his hands and kissed her roughly. After a second she kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and gripping onto him as though her life depended on it.

Before either of them knew what was happening Cid picked his wife up and carried her into the spare bedroom of the shop, shutting the door behind them.

...~~~...~~~...~~~...

**A/N: In case you're interested, I've posted a drinking game to go along with this fic on my profile page. Thanks for reading! :)**


	22. Chapter 22: Origin

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Origin**

It didn't take long after Yuffie sat down for the calamity to start.

The door opened and shots rang out. People screamed. People scrambled. People died.

Yuffie barely moved. She just looked on bitterly as her unsuspecting flashback made a confused face at her phone, then dropped it when she looked up to see Johnny get shot. The men that grabbed her soon after were SOLDIERS, but the one giving them orders was definitely not.

"Hurry, before he gets here."

They barked out an array of "yes sir"s. Rude turned from them to look over the bloodbath, taking a moment to straighten his cuff-links before walking out the front door.

Yuffie wrinkled her nose. Fucking _Rude_.

She sat for a few minutes longer, waiting. When was Vinnie going to show up? Surely he wasn't _that_ far behind, if they were expecting him.

_"Yuffie," _her mother's voice came from outside. _"Come."_

The ninja huffed, but obeyed. Walking out into the rain she wrapped her arms around herself, humming disapproval at the sight of SOLDIERS crawling all over her village.

"This is worse than when they invaded."  
>"<em>Pay attention."<em>

She was irritated, but didn't have a chance to show it. Not far from the square stood Rude, waiting calmly as Reno approached, winded.

"Any orders?"  
>"Just to get back to the ship with the kid and make sure she's in a cell before she wakes up- and to keep her there 'til we land."<br>"What about Godo?"

Yuffie felt her heart stop. Godo- she hadn't even _considered_ that _he_ might have been the one coming after her.

"Boss and No-Face've got him under control. I don't think he'll be coming to save anybody anytime soon."

Not needing a command from her Mother, Yuffie took off for the Pagoda, fear tearing into her chest at the thought of her Father fighting Vecena.

(There's no way, he's so old! She'll eat him for lunch!)

The panic eased as she reached the tower and the sound of his voice hit her ears. Winding up the stairs, she passed through several lines of armed SOLDIERS before reaching the top tier. Upon entering the room she froze, covering her mouth.

Godo lay prostrate on the floor- blood dripping from the back of his skull, knuckles raw and purple. Vecena stood above him, head turned to Rufus, who wasn't far behind her.

"He doesn't have it," she said dully. "We're wasting our time."

"He may not have it, but certainly he has some _idea _where she put it," Rufus replied, striding over to stand beside the Master. He nudged him with his foot. "Isn't that right, old man?"

Godo let out a harsh laugh, lifting his beaten face.

"'Old man', and it still took half your army to subdue me."  
>"Too bad the same can't be said for your daughter."<p>

_That_ he did not find funny. Roaring, the man found his strength and rose, sending one of his more powerful bolt spells into ShinRa's chest and throwing him across the room.

One of the waiting lines of SOLDIERS rushed to the President's aid; they didn't stand a chance. Picking his staff off the floor Godo spun to battle stance, knocking the first two fighters away before twisting the gnarled cane around and yelling out a wind spell strong enough to push the remainder of them out the bay doors and over the balcony railing.

Rufus recovered, letting out an enraged shriek as he rushed his opponent. Godo, now calm and collected, simply ducked and leaned as the younger man advanced, swinging his plated fists wildly in an attempt to catch him by the jaw. After several failed attempts to land a blow Rufus stopped, growling as he turned to Vecena.

"I've had enough of this! Finish him."

Vecena tilted her head. "You do not wish to take him for more questioning?"  
>"We have Yuffie. <em>He<em> is not of the bloodline, so there is no reason to keep him alive."

She nodded, and he shot Godo a hateful look.

"Give my regards to your wife."

Yuffie stepped to the side as he stormed out, her eyes never leaving the face of her father. How had this happened? How had she not known? She hadn't had time to go back after the others rescued her, but she hadn't seen or heard anything on the news or in the villages about the massacre in Wutai- and not once did the thought cross her mind that someone in the raid might have actually been strong enough to _kill _Godo.

For the first time, Yuffie was afraid that this was the last time she would see her father alive.

Godo squared his shoulders. "So...you are the manifestation of evil."

Her jaw dropped. (What? How does he..?)

Vecena laughed softly. "You know the legend."  
>"Does <em>he?<em>"

"He knows less than he thinks, more than he should," crossing her arms she walked slowly toward him. "Still, I gather even _his _knowledge is more than that of your daughter's."

"Yuffie doesn't even know how to make a cup of proper tea. You have no reason to keep her."  
>"So you taught her nothing?"<br>"I taught her to be a warrior. I taught her honor. That's all she needs to know."  
>"You <em>did<em> keep her destiny from her," she crossed her arms. "Then you are both ignorant."  
>"I did what I had to, to protect her."<p>

"'To protect her,'" she sneered, "and yet here we are. I have her, and before long I will have the Spirit materia. Once that wretched Ancient's soul is in mine I will have full access to the Lifestream, and this pathetic Planet will be mine!"

Godo didn't reply. She stopped in front of him, reaching one slender hand up to touch the side of his face.

"Do you fear me?"  
>He didn't flinch. "I do."<p>

"You do well to," she slid her hand to his chest. "Do not lament for your child, Great Master Godo. You will see her soon enough."

Knowing what was coming, Godo closed his eyes. Without so much as a word Vecena's hand began to glow, and the next thing Yuffie knew her father was on the floor.

"_No!_" she screamed, rushing to his side. It was useless of course- she couldn't touch him, he couldn't hear her. It was all just a history lesson.

Above them, Vecena seemed to survey the room. The SOLDIERS in the doorway looked on with wide eyes, frightened of the inexplicable power she possessed.

"Search the room, dispose of his body," she commanded, walking toward the door.

They parted to let her leave, then came into the room. As they neared, Yuffie lowered her head and leaned over her father's still body, wishing there was something she could do, knowing there wasn't.

Before they reached her though, everything froze. She raised up and looked around slowly, feeling she knew what was happening.

"What now?"

"_Now," _her mother answered, appearing in a pillar of fire before her. "_It is time to return to the present."_

"No," Yuffie shook her head. "No..."  
>Kasumi raised her eyebrows. <em>"You wish to stay in a memory?"<em>  
>"'No,'" she repeated, standing up. "This can't be all you had to show me!"<br>_"It is. The knowledge that Vecena never found what she was looking for, and that her purpose is to gain access and control over the Lifestream, is imperative to your battle."_

"You could have just told me that. There was no need for me to watch him die!" she dropped back to her knees, looking sadly at her Father. "To watch _both_ of you die..."

Kasumi didn't seem interested. _"It is time to go."_  
>"There is more to this," her daughter looked at her angrily. "Tell me what it is."<br>_"Why do you loathe instruction?"_  
>"I don't<em> loathe<em> instruction," she snipped. "I _loathe_ this teaching method. I _loathe_ that I apparently can't_ live_ my own_ life_. And I _loathe_ the way Gaia forced _you_ to come back from the Lifestream to walk me through the death of my Father- and of _you._"

Kasumi was silent as her daughter stared down, tears in her eyes.

"I cried for you- for _years_- Mother. I lost a piece of my childhood every day I woke up without you. I missed..._so_ many things because I passed my time alone, in a dojo, training- trying to please your memory." She shook her head. "I've been a thief, a prisoner, a warrior...I've saved the Planet from uncertain destruction_ twice_ in my lifetime, and still somehow I have a destiny to fulfill?" Straightening, she looked at her. "But I suppose that's just it, isn't it? They had to send _you_to tell me. You...the only one I would possibly ever listen to."

_"I __am__ your mother."_  
>"Are you?" she narrowed her eyes. "Or are you just the spirit of Gaia, clothed in her ghost?"<p>

To answer her question the hollow figure of Kasumi stepped from the flames, taking on a bolder, tangible form. She knelt down in front of Yuffie, reaching over Godo's body to touch her daughter's face. The ninja shut her eyes, quivering as the horrible reality of what was happening set in. The Planet was in trouble, so much so that it sent Kasumi herself to push her daughter back to the field of battle. This darkness that was coming...it was so great that her ancestors had planned their defense for thousands of years, and it all boiled down to her.

_Her_. And she didn't even know how to properly make a cup of tea.

"Follow the blood," her mother's voice- her real, present voice- struck a chord, and Yuffie reached up a hand to touch the one over her cheek.

Kasumi tilted her head, sad eyes and a warm smile on her face as she watched her child struggle to hold herself together.

"You will survive. You are a Kisaragi. Now- take a deep breath."  
>"What-?"<p>

At once everything went back into motion. The SOLDIERS were practically on them, and one of them yelled to the others just entering the doorway.

"We are to search the room and dispose of the body."

Suddenly Godo turned onto his side, materia in hand.

"Leviathan! Seal this temple and destroy those who wish to bring it harm!"

Yuffie gasped. "Godo!"

It all happened so fast. Every man in the tower was instantly frozen in place, and beneath them the floor began to shimmer. She had barely enough time to breathe in as it turned to water and she dropped below the surface.

...~~~...~~~...~~~...

Reeve Tuesti had always been a quiet sort of man.

One would never know it, what with his dabbling in 'Foreign Relations' and the design he used for Cait Sith, but the man preferred to be alone- in his apartment, sipping scotch and listening to good music.

The odd group that was AVALANCHE had been the first real encounter that made him want to leave his home. The vast differences between each member never seemed to come up, because they all shared the common goal of wanting peace. Reeve wanted peace too, and after everything that happened during their initial fight with Sephiroth he realized that because he did, and because he had the determination and means to help gain it, he'd earned his best friends.

Friends that didn't even flinch when he exchanged his avatar's presence for his own.

"You realize that by going to Kalm with us, you postpone your trip to Costa del Sol to retrieve your materia."

He smiled as Nanaki approached. They were in the planning room of the Shera; Reeve had gone there to go over some of the paperwork that had been retrieved from the Forgotten City.

"My tech isn't going anywhere. Finding out what happened to the others is by far more important."

The Elder shook his mane and climbed into the seat beside him to look over the table.

"Have you found anything Cait Sith did not?"  
>"No, not yet anyway."<br>"He has a tendency to be very thorough."  
>"Mm," he nodded. "It's the materia. Ever since I started using it in the prototype It's been much more of an...independent thinker."<br>"You never thought that was odd?"  
>Reeve snorted. "I thought it was lucky. Is it so wrong to simply be grateful when something unexpectedly works out?"<br>"Perhaps not wrong. Naive, maybe."

A few more moments of looking over the documents and he sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"So much information, and yet it tells me nothing."  
>"Sometimes things like these are merely clues," Nanaki replied. "They point to bigger pieces of a puzzle."<br>"I just hope that whatever answers we need, we find them in Kalm. I don't believe the Planet could survive another attack as devastating as Meteor."

Red tilted his head thoughtfully. "You have a fortress in Kalm, correct? Underground?"  
>"Yes- where we keep the files collected from the Mansion, among other things. We might be safe there for a short time. I suppose it depends on how hard ShinRa is looking for us."<br>"True."

Reeve looked back to the stack of papers in front of him, sliding a hand across the top gently to spread them apart.

"What do you think happened to the others?"  
>The beast raised his eye to look at him. "I believe the materia took them to the Lifestream; the Planet had something very important to say and couldn't wait for Aeris to regain her ability to hear it to tell us what it was."<br>He startled. "She can no longer speak with the Planet?"  
>"I can't be sure, but since her return, Gaia has only interacted with her in dreams, and she doesn't spend her mornings meditating like she used to. Something's changed."<br>"Has she mentioned it?"  
>"I doubt she even realizes it," he shook his mane again. "If the Lifestream chooses to let her come back, I will be sure to ask."<p>

Reeve stroked his beard contemplatively, but didn't reply. Feeling there was nothing more to talk about, Nanaki slid back to the floor and left.

-...-...-...-

On the observation deck, Tifa looked down at the field below.

"This is familiar."

She didn't turn as Vincent approached and stood beside her.

"The last time we came here like this, Kalm was in flames."  
>"Somehow I feel that won't be the case again."<p>

As the ship sailed the wind tossed her hair about, but she didn't move to brush it away. She just watched, waiting for something, anything to signal to her that Cloud and the others were alive.

"Do you think they'll be there when we land?"  
>"I don't know."<p>

Tifa lowered her head, a small laugh escaping. Of course Vincent wouldn't know. None of them would. They were all just waiting, hoping things turned out for the best.

"I hate this," she murmured, voice barely audible above the engines. "I hate the uncertainty of it- not knowing what we're up against."  
>"The Planet seems to be the only one who truly knows what's happening-."<br>"Then it should tell us how to save It," she turned to him suddenly, angry. "We never asked for any of this, you know. We never put ourselves out there as heroes..." Crossing her arms, she looked back off the deck. "All we ever wanted was for the fighting to stop...but I don't think that it ever will. There will always be _something._"

Vincent only watched her. There was nothing he could say that would make her feel better- as long as he'd been alive, there always _had_been something to fight. He didn't have the heart to tell her that you only stopped fighting when you decided things weren't worth saving anymore.

As they stood, something in the distance caught their eye. It was Kalm- or the lake that stood outside it, rather. It was glowing.

Vincent hummed. "Perhaps they _will_be there when we land."

...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...

Minerva stood from the side of the fountain as it began to bubble over.

"Retrieve the girl, before she drowns."

Cloud and Aeris were only confused for a moment, before the sound of someone shrieking erupted from the water.

"Yuffie!" they cried, rushing forward to pull her out.

As she hit the ground she sputtered and continued screaming. Most of it was unintelligible, but at one point they thought she might have been yelling for her Father.

"Yuffie!" Cloud yelled, grabbing the sides of her face to hold her still. "Yuffie stop!"  
>Aeris tried to help. "You're in the Ancient Forest, Yuffie. You're safe now."<p>

The ninja writhed a few seconds longer, before her eyes adjusted and she was able to comprehend where she was and who was holding her. Breathing heavily, she looked between them.

"Ancient...Ancient Forest?"  
>"Yes."<br>"Are we dead?"

The ex-SOLDIER looked to the Flower Girl.

"See? Perfectly normal assumption when you first get here."  
>Aeris rolled her eyes. "No, Yuffie. We're not dead. We're in the-."<p>

"You're on the Gray-Plane," Minerva interrupted, stepping forward.

Yuffie froze at the sound of her voice, seeming to recognize it. Pushing off the ground she sat up to face the Goddess.

"You... you're...Minerva."  
>"And I have brought you here to tell you something very important."<br>She groaned, holding the sides of her head. "Oh my gods. I can't take much more of this-."

_"Silence."_

It was the first time she'd _commanded _anything, and the mere tone of it seemed to suck all warmth from the space they sat in. Yuffie obeyed, though her resolve didn't waver.

"To find what you need to unlock your answers, you must first return to your village."

She stopped to stare at her, and Yuffie nodded.

"Yes...I can do that."  
>"Once you have the keys- along with the Jenova Materia- then, and only then, will you be able to defeat Vecena."<p>

She nodded again, then, hesitantly, "Goddess?"  
>Minerva raised her eyebrows.<br>"Why...why does it have to be me?" Feeling a bit bolder, she stood. "What could_ I_ possibly possess that makes a difference?"  
>"You defy your destiny?"<br>"No," she shook her head. "No...I just, I don't understand how it all comes to this- to _me_."

Cloud and Aeris stood behind her tensely. If they didn't know any better they would have thought she was aiming to get herself killed. However, Minerva didn't seem angry. In fact, she smiled.

"You are humble to think this way, Ancient Princess, but you cannot deny your blood. Your fate was decided before even your mother was born, and it is because of _you _that Gaia will survive."

Taking this in, Yuffie chewed her bottom lip. Cloud placed a hand on her shoulder, and Aeris...Aeris just stared at Minerva, face slightly pale.

Behind them, the fountain began to churn again. Minerva pointed to it.

"It is time to return."

Without hesitation Cloud turned and jumped onto the stone siding, holding a hand out to Aeris to help her up. She took it, giving one last look to the Goddess before climbing up and dropping over the side. Yuffie was next, but as she let Cloud help her up, Minvera called after her.

"Yuffie."  
>She looked back at her. "Yes?"<br>"You are all that stands between Vecena and Chaos. Know that."

Despite everything that had happened since the materia took her from Rocket Town, those words seemed to be the hardest ones she had to hear. Not knowing how to respond, Yuffie simply held tighter to Cloud's hand, pulling the seemingly clueless leader into the fountain with her as she went.

...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...

The entire village of Kalm had turned out to watch the lake.

The remaining members of AVALANCE arrived just in time for the surface of the water to begin churning, sending white-capped waves like an ocean to the shore. As it became more violent people began to panic, some rushing back to the village, others screaming that a monster was coming.

Everyone readied their weapons...everyone except Cid, that is.

The old pilot paused, eyebrow raising when he heard the faintest hum over the sound of the raging water. Looking down at his utility belt, he flipped open the pouch containing his materia. Even though it was still wrapped in a towel, the bright-yellow glow shined out into the darkness, illuminating his face.

"Well, shit," he muttered, feeling a strange sense of calm as he looked from the orb out to the lake. "Guess that's them."

Closing the flap he drew Venus Gospel, using it as a walking stick as he stepped forward and sloshed out into the water.

"Cid," Tifa called after him. "What are you doing?"

"What y'all _should _be doin'!" he yelled back. "'Less you wanna just stand there and watch these idiots drown!"

They looked between one another, then put their weapons away and followed suit. Moments later, the sound of people gasping rang out in front of them.

Cloud kicked wildly, struggling to keep his head above the water as he held Aeris up in front of him and carried Yuffie on his back. Distantly he heard the sound of shouting ahead of him, and pushed toward it.

As he neared the shore a pair of strong, dark arms wrapped around the Ancient in his arms, pulling her away and out of the water. Barret carried her to land. Cid was right next to him, grabbing Yuffie off his back and throwing her over his shoulder.

Last came Vincent and Tifa. Each grabbing an arm they hoisted Cloud up and trudged ashore, attempting to control his inevitable collapse when his feet hit land. Vincent lowered him steadily, and Tifa buckled with him, looking into his face worriedly as he coughed to catch his breath.

"Are you alright?"

He nodded through his hacking, flipping himself over to lie on his back. Turning his head, he breathed out a sigh of relief when he saw Aeris was awake, looking out at the water quietly while Reeve carefully draped his coat over her shoulders.

Past them, Cid had taken his jacket from around his waist and wrapped it around Yuffie, who was just waking up and hacking like she might throw up.

"Way to go, kid, you made it." Clapping her on the back he sat down beside her and lit a cigarette. "What'd you find out?"

Snorting, she rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hand, muttering.

"I need you to teach me how to fix a cup of goddamn tea."

...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...

**A/N: Thank you** to the following:  
><strong>Reviewers <strong>(for the last two chapters):  
><strong>Blackstar Angel- <strong>Glad you thought it was worth the wait! :) Hopefully a wait that long won't happen again.  
><strong>CupofTeaforAliceandHatter- <strong>I love how it seems like you say whatever you're thinking the moment you finish the chapter. Thanks!  
>Whoever my <strong>Guest <strong>is: I'm pretty sure it's the same person every time, but if it isn't, then thanks to the lot of you! (I enjoyed the Cid and Shera part too. :D)

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	23. Chapter 23: Possible

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Possible**

Nearly four hours had passed since their return from the Otherworld.

Explaining what happened had been a short affair; everyone met at the above-ground Inn and sat in the back room for Cloud, Aeris and Yuffie's 'Story Hour,' which turned out to be more like a 'Story Half-Hour.' Since Cloud and Aeris had been together the entire time, Cloud told the majority of their bit while Aeris filled in the gaps. Not much speculation was given, considering they were already on the path to getting the Jenova Materia, but they _were _intrigued by the history of it.

"Vincent, your father was a scientist?" Naturally, Nanaki had picked up on the relation right away, whereas Cloud and Aeris only noticed as Cloud was literally saying the name.

"Yes," he'd replied. "But he never talked about his studies, or our lineage."

That had been the extent of _that _rabbit hole.

When it came time for Yuffie to share her travels, she'd taken a moment to edit the events in her head. Why should everyone in the group know her mother told her she and Vincent were destined to be in each other's lives? And there was no need for them to hear about their meeting when she was a child- so she just stuck with the death stories. Even then, it raised a lot of questions.

"So, what then?" Barret had snorted. "We get the materia then hand it to you and somethin' magic happens?"  
>"I don't know. My guess is, once we get it all together, it'll let me know."<br>"Pretty weak," Cid murmured melodically. "Don't know if I'd wait that long, holdin' on to a guess."  
>"I don't really have a choice," she'd sang back. "My mom was a little preoccupied with being annoyingly cryptic to just tell me what to do. All I know is I have to go back to Wutai to look for a key."<p>

Then, of course, the conversation turned to the present. Everyone agreed they would stay the night in Kalm, then resume their materia gathering in the morning- except for Reeve, who wanted to get to Cait Sith before either the tide took him out or someone found him and, inevitably, found the materia. So he went to gather his things to leave, giving instructions to Nanaki on the whereabouts of the Nibelheim papers.

"Everything is in the Underground library," he'd told him. "Just split up the paperwork and go through it. See if you find anything useful."

So they had. Once everything was divvied up the group had gone their separate ways all over the town, trying to find a place to read.

Yuffie had settled at the desk in her room; the quiet light from the candle one of the innkeepers had lit cast entrancing shadows over the stack of papers in front of her as she tried to work through them. It was hard- how long had it been since she'd slept? Exhaustion aside, her barely conscious mind refused to let her relax, constantly bombarding her with scenes from the Gray Plane.

_"I can hear you, you know."  
>"Go away."<br>"I was here first. You go away."_

She groaned, brushing her hair out of her face and leaning forward onto her hand.

_"We'll be going now."_

Gawd, even the _memory _of his voice made her skin prickle. Shuddering slightly she let out a short breath and leaned back in her chair, rubbing both hands over her face.

"Ugh, brain- stop.._ thinking _things."

She turned away from the desk and prepared to let herself slump even further into her seat in a display of dramatics; when she dropped her hands she nearly screamed.

Vincent was standing in her room.

Involuntarily she jumped to her feet...then tripped over them and crashed to the floor.

"God _dammit _Vincent!" she hissed, scrambling upright awkwardly.

The dark man stared at her, intrigue blatant on his face. "Did I scare you?"  
>She looked at him dully. "No, I always fall on my ass when I'm happy to see someone."<br>He hummed, crossing to her desk and eyeing the barely touched paperwork. "Then I'm glad you're happy to see me."  
>"Gah, sweet mother!- <em>what<em> do you want? We're not having another meeting, are we-?"  
>"Are you hungry?"<br>She blinked. "What?"  
>"Are you hungry?" he repeated, turning his gaze to her.<br>"Um..." She took a step back from him, unconsciously rubbing her arms. "Sure. Is someone cooking?"

"There's a restaurant in the back of the Inn above ground. It's still open. We could go over our notes while you eat."

Damn her heart! It was pounding so loud in her chest she could have sworn she heard Vincent Valentine just offer to take her to dinner!

She furrowed her brow. "...What?"

He didn't repeat himself- seeming to understand that she just needed a moment to comprehend what he'd suggested.

Before she could stop herself she blurted, "Are you asking me out?"

(Oh my gods, you just asked him that. What is _wrong_ with you, Yuffie? You're a ninja! At least _try _to be subtle!)

Still he didn't answer. He just turned and walked toward the door.

"Because if you are...that's OK."

He paused, then, "I'll get a table."

And he was gone. Yuffie took a deep breath, suddenly feeling like she'd just emerged from the lake again. How did he do this to her? Every time? Even when she pushed herself to be the dominant one- like in the engine room on the ship- at the end of the day he still made her knees weak. He liked her, didn't he?

(I mean...we've kissed like, four times.) She shook her head. (Why does it always feel like this? Like I just dreamed those things and this is all in my mind?)

She shivered again, this time grabbing Cid's jacket off the back of her bed to cover herself. Even though she knew the chill was partly from emotions, she _was _cold. Her clothes were still damp from the lake and she hadn't had anything to change into.

(I'll get clean ones tomorrow.)

Picking her stack of papers off the desk she smiled slightly to herself, silently resolving that despite her confusion she was going to enjoy hot food and some company to break up the mundaneness of reading through scientific paperwork. She blew out the candle at her desk and left to go above ground.

~~~...~~~...~~~

Reeve stood at the window of his room in the Inn, looking over the village.

(Such a small place,) he thought. (And yet it's seen so much of this world's conflict and change.)

Distantly he recalled the town on fire. He remembered that night; the screaming, the bloodshed, the way Rufus had looked at the previous Cait Sith right before he shot it.

(His eyes seemed different even then. Vecena must have had her grip on him for some time now, who _knows _what else she's managed to accomplish outside our radar.)

A jaded sigh escaped him, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. There was so much new information to take in from Cloud and the others' encounter with Minerva. Even still, there were so many questions still unanswered. How would Yuffie unlock the Materia? If the combination of Spirit and Heart brought Aeris back from the Lifestream, would other combinations do other things? Why did they need to resurrect the Ancient in the first place- how would that give them control over the Lifestream?

For a brief moment Reeve contemplated writing out all of his questions and making every member of AVALANCHE carry a copy of the list in their pockets in the event that one or more of them should get sucked through the Gray Plane for another chat with the consciousness of Gaia.

...But he didn't.

"Reeve?"

Tifa's voice came with a light knock, and he turned to the door to face her.

"Yes?"

It didn't take but a second to see she was distressed. Reeve furrowed his brow.

"Tifa, you look upset. Is everything alright?"  
>"I need to talk to you about something," she started, lacing her fingers together as she entered the room. "It's...about my materia."<br>"Did you leave it in Rocket Town?"  
>"No, um..."<p>

She trailed off, searching for a way to explain what was bothering her. Reeve was curious. Tifa _never_ came to him with her problems- not that she _couldn't_, he was always open to helping a friend- she just usually went to Cloud or Barret.

(Well, don't be rude about it.)

"You haven't sold it, have you?"  
>"No!" she startled, then, thoughtfully, "Though that might have been easier to fix."<p>

Curiosity shifted to concern. "What's happened?"  
>"Remember when...a long time ago- before we had killed...<em>him<em>...the first time- when I was in Mideel with Cloud, and he wasn't well?"  
>"Yes."<br>She drew in a deep breath. "There was a night, when I was struggling with what was happening, and in a moment of desperation, I went to one of the Mako Caves outside the village to see if I could hear the Lifestream."  
>He stroked his beard absently. "Odd, but go on."<br>"I prayed- not well, but I tried- for the Planet to give him back. I prayed for our group to find each other again, and for the Planet to be saved somehow."  
>"Alright?"<br>"...I may have offered my materia to the Mako pool as a sacrifice."

He stared at her. "...Come again?"  
>"By 'may have' I mean I did."<p>

Reeve felt his mouth go dry, but his expression didn't change. Tifa cringed.

"I came to you because you were the only one I thought might be able to help me figure out a way to get it back."

The older man hesitated, watching the fear in her eyes and waiting for the panic of her words to set in, but it never did. Somehow, he was very calm about the monstrosity of a task that had just been presented to him.

"A couple of years back," he started slowly, "you might remember- ShinRa began harvesting for new forms of Materia in Old Mideel."  
>She nodded.<br>"There's a chance that your materia may have been picked up on one of the runs through the caves."  
>"Okay?"<br>"Everything retrieved from those caves was archived in a tower on what little is left of the surfaced area of the South Continent, now-," he cleared his throat. "A year ago operations were shut down after the company deduced that they were losing extreme amounts of money in the project. Anything of potential value was taken back to the Tower in Edge."

He was quiet, seeming to run a plan over in his head a few times before nodding to himself.

"I'll be leaving tonight to retrieve Cait Sith. When I return, we'll go to the Tower- I have access to the materia labs and can sneak you in to search for it."  
>"And if it isn't there?"<br>"Then we'll go to the warehouse in Mideel."  
>A pause, and she asked again, softer, "And if it isn't there?"<br>"That, my dear, is a situation we will address if and when we arrive to it."

Tifa swallowed hard. "Thank you, Reeve."  
>"Of course." He absently went to check his overnight bag. "I suppose you don't want Cloud knowing about this?"<p>

She would have feigned surprise at the suggestion, but she knew he knew better.

"Would it be wrong to keep it from him?"  
>"To a point, it's fine. But if we get to Mideel and can't find it, you'll have to tell him."<br>"I understand."

Outside a car horn blared, signaling Reeve's ride to the airship pad had arrived.

"I have to get going." He picked up his suitcase and moved past her to the door, giving her arm a light tap of reassurance as he went. "Try not to worry too much about it- if the orb is as big as the ones I've seen, then I'm certain it was picked up."

"Right," she murmured, wrapping her arms around herself.

The man paused in the doorway, turning back slightly.

"Tifa?"  
>She turned to him. "Hm?"<br>"Did it work?"  
>"What?"<br>"The sacrifice to the Mako Spring. Did it work?"  
>She gave a small smile. "We're all here, aren't we?"<br>Reeve half-smiled back. "Then you shouldn't regret what you did."

Her heart lightened, and he left the room.

~~~...~~~...~~~

Things could have gone worse.

"Are you finding anything useful?"  
>"No. Everything in these documents is either something we already know or just speculation- none of it is anything we can implement right now."<p>

Vincent sat back in his chair, watching as Yuffie absently picked at the baked salmon beside her while looking over the last of her stack of papers. After a few seconds she shook her head, dropping them.

"I just don't understand how there can be so much here, and yet there's nothing for us to take from it."  
>"Sometimes that's just how it is. I seem to remember many instances when Hojo and the others would simply write for the sake of it- for weeks, even- I suppose it was to keep their minds focused on the task at hand while they waited for new discoveries."<br>"Well they sure made one hell of a useless mess." She frowned, crossing her legs and leaning over onto one hand. "Thanks a lot, Hojo."

They'd been in the small restaurant for nearly an hour. The paperwork had gone much faster since they started going through it as a team, but neither of them could decide if that was because they worked well together, or because they were just trying to get over the awkwardness that was their unofficial dinner date.

"Your mother seemed very helpful."  
>"Eh," she waved him off as she forked in the last of her dinner. "I guess, if you pick through all the ominous crap. I could have done without having to see her die and Godo <em>almost<em> die."  
>"Aren't you concerned for him?"<p>

She swallowed, then quirked her lips. Of course she was worried about her Father- it had just been so long since she could remember feeling _anything _for him that she was having trouble coping with it.

"I'm sure he's fine. I'll see him tomorrow."

While her attempt to appear indifferent would have fooled most people, Vincent knew better. It was a ruse- a good one, but a ruse nonetheless. Still, he let it go.

"When do you plan on leaving?"  
>"Don't know. I still need to talk to Red about it."<br>"And when you get there?"  
>"I'll just find Godo and pick his brain. My Mother muttering things on her death bed really wasn't a neon sign. Maybe talking to someone who's still alive will make a difference."<br>"Hm."

There was so much hostility toward her parents hidden in her tone. He could understand, having spent a good portion of his life with his Aunt after his mother passed away and his father was constantly at work. When he was old enough he'd gone to military school, rose through the ranks and eventually became a Turk. He'd never looked back- even when he was assigned to protection detail at ShinRa Mansion...even when his father was killed.

"This just all seems so impossible." In front of him, Yuffie had begun re-examining some of the papers she'd dog-eared the first time through. "I mean, how could the Planet have expected something this huge to happen, and never tell the Ancients enough about it to let us know how to save it?"

"Perhaps Vecena's growing presence prevented it from doing so," he answered, thumbing through a few sheets of his own. "In any case, nothing is really impossible. We were given the pieces. The Planet chose us- bound us together, if you will- so _It _believes we can save It."

His words struck a chord as Yuffie remembered her Mother's words to her in the flashback of the bar- _she_ and_ Vincent _were bound together, she'd said.

(Long before we find out we...'love each other.')

Her skin prickled madly and she sat back in her seat, rubbing her arms through her jacket. Vincent looked at her.

"Are you cold?"  
>"No, it's- it's nothing. I just-," she stopped. "...Is someone yelling?"<p>

Vincent turned his head toward the door. Someone was indeed yelling, and they didn't sound happy.

The two left their table without so much as a word and went outside. As they neared the town square they saw a small crowd was circled- creating an opening just big enough for Cloud, Reno and Rude to face-off in.

"I just want to see her!" the redhead yelled, fists clenched. "I won't even talk to her- you got my word-!"  
>"Your word is about as useless as you are," Cloud shot sternly. The blonde had never been one for yelling, but the look in his eyes warned that his tolerance of the Turk was wearing thin.<p>

Reno grit his teeth, glancing back at his silent counterpart. "Tell 'im, Rude. We're not here to hurt anybody."  
>Rude crossed his arms, turning his sunglasses-shielded gaze to the Leader. "We just want to see if it's true."<p>

"See if what's true? That your Boss's science experiment worked?" He shook his head. "It did. She's alive. But you won't get to see her. Now, leave."

He turned to walk away from them. Rude gave no reaction. Reno compensated, letting out a vicious growl as he lunged after Cloud.

Before he could reach him though, Yuffie had pushed through the crowd and intercepted his attack- landing a solid punch to his jaw and sending him staggering off course. Cloud turned to watch as Reno caught his balance, only to be met with a roundhouse kick to the face from the ninja. Spiraling, he tripped over his momentum and landed on his hands and knees. He struggled to sit upright, but by the time he'd regained his senses Yuffie was in front of him. She grabbed him by the ponytail and jerked his head back to look up at her, where Conformer was in her other hand and dangerously close to his already scarred face.

"You _self_-righteous mother_fucker_!" she hissed.

Rude took a step toward them, and she jerked Reno's head back further.

"Come another step closer and I'll cut his throat."

He hesitated. Reno snorted through his bloody nose.

"Rude, do what the crazy lady says."

He stood down, and Reno tried to breathe through his hyperextended neck.

"We just wanna see Aeris. We _deserve_ a chance to see her with our own eyes-."  
>"You don't 'deserve' anything!" she spat, gripping his hair harder- eliciting a whimper from him. "You should hope I let you <em>keep <em>your eyes after everything you've done!"  
>"Is this about Wutai?" he rasped, somehow calm despite her murderous demeanor. "We didn't have anything to do with that!"<br>"You were there, weren't you? You didn't try to stop it, did you?"

When he didn't answer she jerked his head again. Behind her Cloud was silent; beside him, Tifa emerged from the crowd.

"Yuffie, don't."  
>"They destroy everything they touch," she replied, eyes never leaving Reno. "I have<em> yet <em>to meet a Turk who hasn't fucked up my life somehow."

And then the universe shifted. Feeling her attention pull away from the man she held captive, Yuffie cut her eyes up to see Vincent standing at the front of the mob before her. Her heart sank in her chest. Every Turk she'd ever met _had _fucked with her life somehow- even him.

Cursing tersely in her native tongue Yuffie released Reno, making a quick move to backhand him. He only turned his head with the blow, and winced when she spat in his face. Wiping the fluid away gingerly he looked at her through swollen eyes.

"That it?"

She paused, then leaned in close. "If I return to my village and find my Father is dead, I will remove your face with my bare hands and give it to that wretched bitch you follow."

The darkness in her tone was unlike anything he'd ever heard from her before, and for a brief moment, Reno was afraid.

She didn't wait for a smart-ass reply- not that he'd intended to give one- she just turned and quietly stormed away, walking toward the outskirts of the village. Once she was out of sight the Turk dropped back to sit on the ground, propping his elbows on his knees as he casually pulled a hi-potion out of his pocket and chugged it.

"Geez, she's turned into a real hot-head, yeah?" He lulled his gaze back up to Cloud, who glanced where Yuffie had gone, an expression of concern flashing across his face before being replaced by one of pure irritation.

"You're lucky she didn't kill you."  
>"Eh, wouldn'ta been the worst way to go."<br>"You still can't see Aeris." Tifa reiterated beside him.  
>"Figured that."<p>

Cloud glanced at the brunette. "You want to go check on her?"

She looked that way, shaking her head when she saw the faintest bit of light glint off of Vincent's cape as he disappeared into the alleyway leading out after her.

"No, I think Vincent's got it."

"Ah, yeah, _those _two," Reno crooned, pushing himself to stand and dusting off his pants. "Almost forgot about their weird little thing. Glad to see there's still no trouble in paradise." Ignoring the confused looks he received, he stretched nonchalantly and turned to Rude. "Guess we'll be outta here then."

"I can't let you leave."  
>"Wha-?" He spun back to Cloud. "Whaddya mean?"<br>"You show up wanting to see Aeris so badly, then just opt to leave?" Tifa put her hands on her hips. "You're up to something."

He looked between them, annoyed, then pulled out a cigarette and held it in his lips to light.

"Maybe you zoned out- but there was this thing a few minutes ago when your spindly little ninja-bitch beat the _shit_ out of me- and I _let_her, mind you."

"And why would you do that?"  
>"I dunno. I figure if Karma's comin' around I'd rather take it from<em> her<em> than that crazy witch givin' us orders vicariously thru the Boss." Taking a drag, he blew the smoke off to the side. "I really _did _just come to see the Ancient though, I ain't lyin' about that."

Cloud raised his eyebrows, regarding Rude. "And you?"  
>"Bored."<br>He snorted. "I don't buy it. You guys are staying."  
>Reno bark-laughed. "You seriously think the two of you can make the two of us stay?"<br>"No, but I'm pretty sure _they _wouldn't mind helping."

The pair twisted around to see Cid, Barret, and Nanaki standing behind them. Rude frowned. Reno took another long drag of his smoke and flicked it off to the side.

"Ah, shit."

~~~...~~~...~~~

Yuffie stood on the shore of the Kalm Village Lake- arms wrapped around herself tightly as she attempted to shrink deeper into Cid's jacket. The thick fabric shielded her from most of the wind coming off of the water, but her exposed legs jittered coldly beneath her.

The sky was clear despite the breeze, and she felt less lonely under the stars. Craning her neck to look at them, she decided after a moment she needed to sit down. The dirt would have normally suited her just fine, but a stray log caught the corner of her eye and she walked to retrieve it, rolling it up the muddy part of the bank to the grassy knoll just beside it. Once she was satisfied with its position she sat, leaning on her hands to resume her stargazing.

It wasn't long before she felt the increasingly familiar presence of Vincent approaching.

"You're really bad at announcing yourself," she said without looking.  
>He was amused. "You seem to be adjusting well."<br>"Mm," she shrugged. "Guess one of us has to change."

He didn't take her words personally, and carefully moved his cloak to sit beside her. She still didn't turn her head.

"I could have killed him, you know."  
>"Why didn't you?"<br>Finally, she looked at him. "Would you have judged me?"  
>"I've never judged you, Yuffie. I'm not going to start today."<p>

She took it in, then sighed. "Even with everything they did, I can't help but believe they really didn't know what they were doing. If I had killed him, it would have been out my own rage for what I_ wanted _to believe happened...that wouldn't have been right."

He didn't say anything. He just stared up at the sky. Yuffie lowered her head, pulling her knees in and drawing nonsensical patterns in the grass with her feet girlishly.

"I don't suppose you remember being in Wutai the day my mother died, do you?"

He dropped his eyes to her. "_You _do?"  
>"I didn't. It was part of what she showed me. I remembered the table in the bar, and the scrapes on my knees, but I didn't know it was you who was there through it all." She felt the question hanging between them and decided to answer it. "I didn't bring it up in the meeting because I didn't think anyone needed to know about it."<br>"That was a long time ago."  
>She stopped drawing. "Why didn't you tell me?"<p>

"What purpose would I have for that?" he almost laughed. "As though things aren't...strange enough. I should hope to make them stranger by telling you I cared for your wounds when you were a child?"

It was worded weirdly, but she understood what he meant. _That_in itself amused her- that he actually acknowledged the nature of their relationship as strange.

"I don't suppose she had a reason for showing you that part of the past?"  
>"She said I'm supposed to know we were bound together by Fate. That it happened before..."<p>

The end of the sentence hadn't almost slipped from her so much as she decided it was best not to tell him. Not many things disturbed Vincent Valentine, but someone telling him he was destined to fall in love would probably do it.

"Before what?"  
>"Before...things got complicated," she finished.<p>

Behind them the dying sounds of evening echoed in the village, gladly taking place of their voices. Yuffie and Vincent sat on the log for a short while, silently watching the stars until, finally, Vincent went to stand.

"We should go back to the restaurant. Our papers are still there and I believe dessert is waiting for you."

She laughed softly, taking his hand as he offered it and pulling herself to her feet. Once she was up, neither of them let go. They stood there, holding hands- somehow not as awkwardly as they had in Costa del Sol. Maybe because this time, it was intentional.

"Do you really think it's strange?" she asked, knowing he would know what she was talking about.  
>"Strange, yes, and most likely impossible."<p>

She hummed thoughtfully as he ran a thumb over her knuckles before letting go.

"Nothing is impossible, really."

He took his own words thrown back at him with a smile she couldn't see, and they walked back to the village.

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

**A/N: Thank you to the following:**

**Reviews:**  
><strong>-"Guest":<strong>I AM a good guesser. :)... Sometimes, anyway! Glad you enjoyed the chapter, hope you liked this one, too!

**-hannahbananaonthesavanna: **(I canNOT say that three times fast XD) Thank you! I spend a lot of time re-reading over my chapters and checking grammar and those sorts of things before I post them. I'm not an English student by any means, but I try to use what little I know! :D

-**CupofTeaforAliceandHatter: **You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear the story is believable! :) I really appreciate the review!  
><strong><br>-Blackstar Angel: **Thanks! I'm trying to stay on top of the updates, though I have a feeling it's going to slip a little with Christmas coming up. :) Glad you enjoyed Vinnie's line- I felt like it was something he would say!  
><strong><br>-Other "Guest": **(I KNOW you two aren't the same person. :D) Thank you, glad you enjoy the story!

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>CupofTeaforAliceandHatter, lightsoldier297, vValentine666, <strong>and **kitty materia princess!**


	24. Chapter 24: Plans

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Plans**

Cloud sat at the small wooden picnic table of Kalm's underground kitchen. Resting his cheek on a partially open hand, he dully looked over the barely touched research on the surface in front of him.

"I haven't had nearly enough sleep for this," he mumbled, moving to sit up straight and run a hand down his face.

"Maybe you could use some help then?"

As if to answer and unsaid prayer Tifa entered the room, steaming cups of coffee in either hand. Cloud smiled sleepily at her, accepting the gift and taking a long, happy drink before looking back to the papers.

"Thanks, it's gonna be a long night."  
>"Not too much longer," she sat across from him and reached out to grab a generous portion of the paperwork from the bottom of his stack.<br>He tried to protest. "Tifa-."  
>"Save your energy," she waved him off, already scanning over what she held. "You've had a long enough day as it is, you don't need to drag it out with reading."<p>

His mouth hung open, but nothing came out. Instead he found himself staring at the younger woman as she read- eyes narrowed, bottom lip rolled slightly under her top teeth, and the smallest sliver of her bangs hung just in front of her face.

She was beautiful, and Ramuh be damned if he didn't nearly tell her so in that moment.

"You gonna read what you have, or am I going to have to do everything for you?"

He jumped a little, and she snickered. They both went into reading, passing the minutes quietly between sips of coffee and soft hums of contempt for what was turning out to be a useless endeavor.

"Nothing," she said as she finished her share nearly and hour later. "It's just a bunch of fluff, same as the stuff I had."  
>"Same here," he replied, tossing the last page to the table. "What a waste of time- on their account and ours."<br>"I wonder how hard that must have been for them? To just write nonsense day in and day out, never knowing if it would lead anywhere."  
>"Not very, if they were getting paid to do it."<p>

Cloud stood to put his empty coffee mug in the sink. Tifa followed suit.

"Yeah, but they loved what they did, didn't they? They were _scientists_, working for the greater good-."  
>"They worked for ShinRa," he interrupted, the thought striking a bitter bone with him. "Those people don't do anything for enjoyment-or "good". Even if they started out loving it, they were probably glad to get out when they did."<p>

"You mean when they died," she pointed out softly, continuing to follow him as he walked down the hall toward the rooms. "Going to bed?"  
>"Gonna try. Aren't you tired?"<br>"Well, sure, but _I've_ been on _this _side of the Lifestream all day today."

He caught the humor in her tone and smiled, slowing his pace in the small hallway and turning to face her.

"It wasn't so bad, you know."  
>"What was she like- Minerva?" Her eyes lit up with childlike curiosity. "Was she beautiful? Mysterious? Deadly?"<br>Cloud chuckled. "She was a goddess, Tifa, not a Wutaian assassin."  
>"I'm telling Yuffie you said that."<br>"Yuffie doesn't fit that bill either, look-," he held up and hand, pondering. "She was...bright."  
>Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Bright?"<br>"Like sunlight on the snow," he almost seemed to slip into a dreamy state of mind- staring past her into a recollection of the goddess only he could see. "Everything about her made me feel warm, even when she was telling us terrible things."

Tifa watched him, unable to help the twinge in the back of her mind that pulled her into pretending- just for a moment- that he was talking about _her_. Rarely was Cloud ever poetic, and the times when he was she was sure it wasn't intentional- like then, with Minerva. She wondered if he ever thought that way about anyone else.

They passed in front of the open doorway to one of the guest rooms and Cloud stopped, looking inside. Tifa halted in front of him, following his gaze to one Ancient, who was fast asleep over her paperwork at the desk in the corner.

"Oh, no," the brunette chuckled, walking in to move her friend away from the flickering candle that burned dangerously close to her arm.

Cloud was right beside her. Carefully he pulled Aeris back from the desk and slid an arm under her knees, picking her up. As he carried her to her bed, the weight of her body in his arms triggered unpleasant memories.

_"Cloud...?"_

_Her eyes, normally so calm and warm, were suddenly wide and full of fear- but only for a moment. As the sickening sound of metal-through-flesh dully carried out in front of him, it took her life with it. Aeris paled quickly; her hands dropped to her sides and she fell forward. It was all he could to to drop everything and catch her before she hit the ground..._

"Cloud?"

His name coming from Tifa startled him back to the present, and he didn't need to look at her to know she was concerned.

"I'm fine," he blurted before she could ask. "Just...tired."

She gave him a doubtful look, but patted the bed in front of them to signal it was ready for Aeris anyway. He set her down, wincing when her head rolled back in the same fashion it had when he'd put her in the water.

That time Tifa caught it- the distress in his face- and she watched sympathetically as her leader finished putting the other woman down, then stood back for what felt like minutes and just...watched her.

"She's alive, Cloud," she said quietly. "She'll be here in the morning."  
>"Will she?" He didn't move his gaze, trying to laugh at himself. "I keep telling myself this isn't a dream, but part of me is so sure one morning I'm going to wake up and she'll be gone again."<p>

He sat on the bed across from her, silently telling Tifa he wasn't leaving for a while. She sighed, smoothing the front of her skirt down in a nervous habit.

"Well, I guess I'm going to turn in for the night."  
>"Where's your materia?"<br>She paused. "What?"  
>"Your materia? Did you leave it in Rocket Town?"<p>

Blinking, Tifa took a moment to tell herself calmly that Cloud in fact _didn't_ know what she'd done with her materia, and that his inquiry was completely harmless.

(Probably just something he meant to ask me sooner.)

"It's in Edge," she thought up her half-lie quickly. "I gave it to Reeve for safe-keeping a few years ago, and he's taking me to get it when he gets back from Costa del Sol."

If he hadn't been so preoccupied with Aeris's sleeping form and his own demons, he would have been able to see the look of "I'm hiding something" all over her face. But he was, so he didn't.

"Seems like a waste of fuel. He couldn't have just gotten it while he was out to Costa del Sol?"  
>"He had his reasons. You know Reeve."<br>"Mm."

They fell into a silence in which Cloud was oblivious and Tifa was tense. Despite the ache in her heart at the reoccurring sight of the man she loved fawning over another woman, she had to get out of there before the guilt of her seemingly harmless lie became too much.

"Good night, Cloud."  
>"Night, Tifa."<p>

She went to leave, but he turned after her.

"Tifa-."  
>"Yes?" she whirled around, eyebrows raised.<br>"Thanks- for your help earlier."  
>She forced a smile. "Of course."<p>

He turned back to Aeris and she left for her room, fully intent on locking herself in for the rest of the night.

...~~~...~~~...

"So we'll go in the morning then?"

Yuffie nodded, setting both her and Vincent's stacks of paperwork on the coffee table in Nanaki's room.

"Just give me a time, and I'll be ready."  
>The beast shook his hackles. "Six."<p>

She pursed her lips in silent disapproval, but he ignored her. If they were going to go from Cosmo Canyon to Wutai in one day, it was going to have to start early.

Behind them Vincent stood in the doorway. The two had finished their little restaurant date some half hour ago, and opted to stop in on the Elder on their way back to the underground. Unlike the rest of the group, Nanaki had chosen to sleep in the Inn in town- something about being beneath the earth was troubling to him. Yuffie had wanted to see about riding with him to pick up his materia before going to survey her village.

The gunslinger approved of the plan, though he wasn't sure why he hadn't pushed to go with them. After everything that had happened, Yuffie still didn't want him around.

"You'll hover," she'd said. "You always...hover."

Both of them knew that probably wasn't the real reason behind her distancing, but seeing as how Nanaki was really the only member of AVALANCHE he fully trusted, Vincent didn't mind letting her go without him.

"If there are still people in Wutai when we arrive, my village may be able to give them aid."  
>Yuffie wrinkled her nose. "Thanks...I think."<p>

"I'm glad you came to me for this," he said. "I have been eager to see your village since the raid. Is there anything else you two would like to share?"

If he had infused any inflection into his tone, they both might have thought he was suggesting he _knew _something. Of course, being Nanaki, he did no such thing, so Yuffie had to turn and look at Vincent for an answer to the silent question "What does he know?"

The dark man shook his head. "Not at all."

Yuffie breathed an inward sigh of relief.

"Very well," he went to the desk and blew out the lantern, leaving them standing in the dim torchlight of the village square. "I'll be off to bed now. I suggest you two do the same."

The immature part of her nearly sputtered "But not together!" Thankfully, she had a little more tact than that.

"See you in the morning, Red."

They left him to sleep, slowly making their way back to the underground entrance just outside of town.

"You're sure you don't want me to accompany you tomorrow?"  
>"I'll be fine," she stood to the side as they reached the hidden door, letting him open it. "It's just for the day."<br>"You realize that more often than not, when plans like this are made they never go accordingly?"

His ability to foresee the stereotypical obvious made her laugh.

"Sometimes it works out," she replied, descending the spiral staircase. "Have a little faith, Vinnie."  
>"I'm not one for superstitions," he mumbled, following after her. Then, "And if it doesn't?"<br>"Then I'll be fine with you saying 'I told you so' the moment you come to bail me out."

The sound of a generator distantly humming was all they could hear as they walked down the corridor to their rooms. It was late, and everyone had gone to bed- or to their rooms, at least- leaving the two alone to the hallway.

It was an strange place- oddly prestigious with its steel walls and hardwood floors- even the old lanterns seemed high-end, casting a strong light with what little fuel the chambers held. A setup so advanced had to have been funded by someone with a lot of money, and they could only assume that person was Reeve.

"What's the point of having this place if ShinRa knows where it is?" Yuffie wondered aloud.  
>"Who's to say he knows?"<br>"The Turks know about it."  
>"They may follow orders blindly, but that doesn't mean they tell Rufus everything." When she raised an eyebrow to him, he went on, "Not all Turks are completely bad, Yuffie."<p>

Suddenly, the remark earlier about Turks fucking up her life weighed on her.

"Vinnie-."  
>"Apologizing doesn't suit you," he cut her off gently, and she turned to face him as they reached the door to her room. "You've never been much for it. Don't try to start now."<p>

She looked up at him, and there they were. Part of her- a massive, screaming part- begged her to invite him in, to see if he would stay the night. But the reasonable, logical part of her brain knew how bad that would look for them both.

"I guess I'll see you when we get back then?"  
>"I suppose so."<p>

She hummed, averting her gaze and rubbing the goosebumps that formed under her jacket when she caught his dark stare.

"Thanks again for dinner...and walking me to Red's...and walking me back here."

He watched her shift nervously from one foot to the other, staring at the floor between them. He couldn't be certain what was really behind her stalling words, but he had an idea. However, he considered what little bit of normal human he had left in him to be a gentleman, and he wasn't about to take advantage of someone he found himself actually caring about. Not to mention he wasn't entirely sure what to make of the feelings anyway.

"Good night, Yuffie."  
>"Good night, Vinnie."<p>

He turned and left her to go into her room for the night.

...~~~...~~~...

Tifa hurried down the staircase to the corridor leading to her room.

(I just lied to him. I've NEVER lied to him, not even when I was putting myself in danger!)

She let out a sound of disgust and shook her head, then brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

(It's for his own good, right? I did it just to keep him from worrying too much. If I'd told him what had happened, then he would have started harping about leaving tonight; he would have called a meeting- the poor idiot hasn't slept in almost two days, and now he's up there with Aeris-.)

She slowed her pace as a new, weighted thought set in.

(Aeris is back. She's _actually back._)

It wasn't as if she hadn't realized it before, but in that moment, thinking of the way Cloud had just...watched her, the implications of her resurrection came to light.

Visions of the two forced themselves through Tifa's mind. Cheesy, cliche images of them laughing together, holding hands, kissing... To anyone else the dream-like reel would have been hilarious and over-exaggerated, but to her, it was heartbreaking.

"I'm just...second best," she murmured.

Fighting the urge to let her emotion overwhelm her, she gave her head another shake to throw away the ridiculous images in it. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the wall and breathed deeply.

"Everything's going to be OK."  
>"Unlikely!"<p>

She nearly crashed to the floor. Down the hall, one of the rooms was sealed by what looked like a prison-cell door, and leaning against the bars was Reno. He looked bored.

"What are you doing down _here_?" She walked to face him, glancing around the steel setup with mild interest.  
>"You really think they would keep me in the village? I could bust outta that shit with my eyes closed."<br>"Where's Rude?"  
>"'Nother cell somewhere. I think your boy was worried we'd conspire some grand scheme to escape."<br>Tifa snorted. "He didn't have to lock you up to keep you here."  
>"Oh yeah?" he draped his arms over one of the metal rungs between them. "What's with all this then?"<br>"He wanted to protect you from Yuffie."

Reno grimaced, then hissed as the swelling in his face stung, bitterly reminding him just how close the ninja had come to killing him.

"She doesn't worry me."  
>"She should."<br>"Eh, old Valentine keeps her in check."

She gave him a confused look. "What's with you always saying things like that? About the two of them?"

Reno stared at her, trying to read her expression. After a moment he smirked. "You really don't know, do you?"

She didn't answer, and he laughed incredulously, turning his back to lean on the bars.

"You've _gotta _be kidding me, yo!" Rolling back around to face her, he shook his head. "Because if _you _didn't get it, then sure as shit no one else in your lame-ass kiddie-club does."  
>"Reno, <em>what <em>are you _talking_ about?"  
>"Maybe I could blackmail her, tell her if she doesn't get me Valentine's gun I'll tell her old man about it- if he's still alive, anyway-."<br>_"Reno!_"

She reached through the bars and grabbed him by his shirt collar, jerking him forward and smashing his face into the metal between them. He let out a miserable squeak as his already swollen cheeks bruised further, but he didn't fight her monstrous grip- knowing with Tifa, that would only make it worse.

"Ah, come on!"  
>"What the <em>hell<em> are you talking about?"  
>"Vincent and Yuffie are into each other!"<p>

Silence practically echoed as she glared at him, eyes full of skepticism.

"I'm fucking serious!" he pleaded, beginning to squirm. "Tifa, come on, let go!"

She released him and he fell back, carefully touching his face to check for blood. When he found none he gave her a dirty look.

"_Shiva, _it ain't _that _big of a deal."  
>"How could I not notice?" she said, mostly to herself. "We were together all that time, and when he left, she left...the raid was nearly two year later..."<p>

She trailed off, and he found enough room to get cocky again, leaning on the door.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it. You had a lot going on-."  
>"Don't patronize me," she spat, and he shrank back, fearful of another assault.<br>"Look, you _did _have a lot going on. With the new bar openin' and half the gang leaving, why would you have noticed something so weird?"

Tifa wanted to scream. As if her day wasn't bad enough- _Reno_ was feeling sorry for her.

Still, she couldn't help but pout. "_You_ noticed."  
>"Yeah, well, I'm exceptional."<p>

She rolled her eyes. He grinned.

"So, what time you leavin' tomorrow?"  
>"What?"<br>"To go on your pointless mission with Reeve?"  
>She gaped at him. "...How do you know about that?"<br>"A lady never tells," he jeered, then, realizing what he'd said, "Wait-."

"Reno!" She was done with his court-jester antics, once again stepping to the bars to grab him. This time he hopped back.

"Ah, ah, ah!" He wagged a finger at her. "Fool me twice-."  
>"I <em>will <em>hurt you."

"You'll have to come in here to do that." Feeling much more confident, he sat on the edge of the desk in the center of his cell/room. "You want me to tell you why you're wasting your time or not?"

"I want you to tell me how you know what you know."  
>"That isn't going to happen."<br>"Reno!"  
>"Shout all you want, babe. Not gonna do ya any good."<p>

She glared at him fiercely. There was a good chance she was strong enough to bend the bars to his room to get in and strangle him, but that would take time, and she was getting tired.

"Why is it a waste of time?"  
>"Because the materia isn't in Edge."<p>

Somehow, the specificity of the statement made the situation sickeningly real to her, and a knot formed in her stomach. "It isn't?"

He shook his head. "No. It's in Mideel."  
>"How do you know that?" When he hesitated, she sighed. "Fine-."<br>"I've seen it."  
>She blinked. "You're lying."<p>

"It's purple; about the size of a tennis ball. It got harvested a while back- no one knew what it was so I took it for myself. It's still in my apartment above the warehouse."

Suddenly, he didn't seem so excited anymore, and there wasn't a trace of humor on his face. Not that Tifa noticed- she was busy trying no to have a panic attack.

"If _you_ know...then Rufus-."  
>"Doesn't know," he cut her off. "Not yet, anyway."<br>She looked at him. "Reno you can't-."

"I can do whatever the hell I want," his face soured, then calmed. "...but that isn't how he'll find out."  
>"How then?"<br>"Same way I did- but I'm still not telling you."  
>"How will he know it's in your apartment?"<br>"He won't, but he'll know it's not in Edge."

Uncomfortable silence took them both as the mood shifted from lightheartedly irritating to desperate.

"Reno," she started quietly, "you don't understand. If Vecena gets even _one_ of those orbs-."  
>"What I understand," he cut her off once more, voice low. "Is I just told you where your materia is."<p>

They stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Tifa softly begged the question.

"Why?"

The Turk shifted back to the floor, a look of exhaustion overwhelming his battered face.

"Maybe I'm not ready for the Planet to go out just yet."

Another stretch of silence, and she nodded.

"Thank you."

He waved her off, and she turned to leave.

"You're gonna tell Cloud, right?"  
>"Of course," she called back, disappearing around the corner.<p>

Reno snorted, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it.

"Whatever. I know a runner when I see one."

...~~~...~~~...

**A/N: Thank you **to the following:

**Reviews:  
>-Guest (1): <strong>:D Glad you liked reading Reno getting his ass kicked. I am a fan of Reno- but he needed a few punches to the face!  
><strong><br>-CupofTeaforAliceandHatter: **Thank you! I really do try to keep it interesting. You know Vincent, he's above feeling insulted...I think. XD  
><strong><br>-Guest (2):** Thanks! It really does mean a lot that you guys find this so believable. I tried really hard to weave it in to where it could fit with the original stories!  
><strong><br>-chubbypenguin**: I appreciate you letting me know! :D Glad to have another person on board!  
><strong><br>-kitty materia princess: **Happy Holidays to you, too! Thanks for the kind words- and things ARE starting to heat up. They have a bit more to figure out, but they'll get there! Glad you like the story!

**New Followers/Favorites:**  
><strong>chubbypenguin, Imogen Color, From Summer to Autumn, Half-DemonChild17, <strong>and **Runandra!**


	25. Chapter 25: Hopeless

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Hopeless**

It had been hours since he reached Costa del Sol. Hours of searching, and he had yet to find even a trace of Cait Sith.

Nanaki had told him the place- the makeshift plot where his tech was buried. When he'd arrived, however, the land where it was supposed to be was smooth, as though no one had touched it. Reeve could only assume it was because of the tide that it was that way, but the longer his search went on the more he feared the water may have uprooted the thing altogether and taken it out to sea.

"Scan the water again," he called back to the pilot of the plane Cid had sent him out in. The poor kid had been awake almost as long as Reeve, but one wouldn't know it. He stayed sharp, obeying orders quickly and without complaint.

"Yes sir!" He went aboard and shut the door, taking off a minute later to go over the water and drop yet another detection sonar, desperate to find even a _limb _of the robot at this point.

"Gods," he breathed when it was quiet, leaning against the side of the hole he stood in- the hole _he'd_ dug- and pressing a hand firm against the place just above his eyebrows. "Let me find _something._"

He was exhausted. Hours of digging and sifting had stripped him down to just his slacks and shoes; he was practically covered in sweat and dirt, and he had nothing to show for his efforts but bags under his eyes and a sore back.

He only wallowed in self-pity for a moment before he resumed digging. More time passed until, over the horizon, a sliver of sunlight began to peak. Reeve sighed. He would have to go back soon. As if being unable to find his own materia wasn't bad enough, there was still a good chance Tifa's had fallen into the wrong hands altogether. They needed to go to Edge- and possibly Mideel- to find out.

Nearby the plane touched down again; he waited patiently for the young pilot to emerge.

"Nothing, sir."

It wasn't until that moment, when thinking about the seriousness of Tifa's situation, that Reeve began to worry just whom may have found _his_ orb. Groaning, he hoisted himself out of the grave, picking his jacket and shirt up off the ground and trudging toward the plane.

"We need to hurry back to Kalm. I'm afraid the witch may have found my materia."

...~~~...~~~...

"How the fuck is it so cold?"

Cid chuckled as Barret shifted about next to him, trying to warm up.

"It ain't that bad, you baby. Buck up!"

The larger man grumbled as Cid handed him the lighter. The two were standing on the outskirts of Kalm, smoking their early morning cigarettes.

"Myra wants me to quit. Says she hates the way it makes me smell."  
>"Quit for a few weeks then. Once she smells what you <em>really<em> smell like, she'll be beggin' ya to start again!"

He laughed heartily. Barret rolled his eyes.

"Piss off."

The pilot settled into a grin. "Ah, lighten up." He thought for a moment. "Shera used to be the same way- always harpin' about how I smelled or how my clothes stunk up the house."

"So? What'd ya do?"

"Well," he flicked down the filter of his first smoke, then pulled out a second. "It was before we got _together_ together- so back then, it was really the only thing she _would_ say something about, besides work anyway. The last time she mentioned it was about two days before you guys came along to fuck everything in my town up."

At that, Barret started laughing.

"Yeah, so when I wound up leaving with y'all, we were gone for what? A year?"  
>"Somethin' like that."<br>"She didn't have to worry about it _then_. I came back from the Crater, she asked me if I'd quit. When I told her I might she said 'Don't.' Said it damn near killed her when the last of the smell went out of the house."  
>"Ain't that sweet."<br>"She didn't think it was so sweet when I got the place back to normal in a week."

That time they both laughed. Finishing their smokes, they grounded them out before going back to the underground entrance.

"So, we're gettin' yer materia today, right?"  
>"Yup, gotta head back to Old Midgar."<br>"Soon as that nerd Reeve gets back with my goddamn plane we'll be out."

Barret mumbled agreement as they descended the staircase.

"Maybe Tifa'll wanna come?"  
>"We could ask. Where's her materia, anyway?"<br>"Who knows. Probably somewhere in Nibelheim."  
>"Eh."<p>

They walked down the hall and down another staircase, barely acknowledging Reno's snoring form as they passed his cell and rounded the corner to Tifa's room. Barret gave a few light knocks. No answer.

"Maybe she's up somewhere already?" Cid suggested.

"Hold on," Barret raised an eyebrow as the corner of a piece of paper sticking out from under the door caught his eye. He bent down and swiped it up, quickly scanning over what appeared to be Tifa's delicate handwriting.

""You were right- didn't want to waste fuel so I went on to Edge to get my materia. Be back tomorrow."..?"  
>"The hell?" Cid snatched the letter and read it for himself. "She hid it in Edge?"<br>"Maybe at the old bar there? Wonder what she meant by wastin' fuel."  
>"Beats me. She sure as hell didn't hear <em>me <em>say that."

Cid turned and led the way back up the stairs, folding the letter and tucking it away as he went.

"Better tell Cloud," Barret said, following.  
>"Already on it. Let's go find his room."<p>

...~~~...~~~...

"It's been...a _really_ long time since I've done this."  
>"Me too."<p>

Aeris and Vincent stood in the Underground kitchen, staring at the coffee maker on the counter island between them.

"Did you already put water in it?"  
>"Yes."<br>"Okay," she turned to the freezer, pulling a small jar of grounds out. "I guess we just... pour this in the top?"  
>"I feel as though we aren't supposed to use much."<p>

They'd been timidly approaching the tech for nearly fifteen minutes. It was hard for either of them to remember ever making the stuff, what with Vincent not requiring much sustenance to live and Aeris being dead for a while.

"Maybe a spoonful," she said, gingerly scooping out a generous helping and dumping it into the filter.  
>"Try two. I filled the water chamber full."<p>

She added another scoop, then closed the lid and stepped back, examining the front.

"On? Do you see an 'on' button?"

"There," he reached out and pressed it with his human fingers. Seconds later it gurgled to life, heating the water and eventually dripping out the dark liquid they so desired.

They stood and watched it brew, both of them silently patting themselves on the back for a job well done. Who knew something so simple could be taken for granted?

When it had finished, Vincent pulled two mugs from the cabinet.

"We should try it first."  
>Aeris looked at him. "You didn't want any for yourself?"<br>"I might. I had intended to take some to someone else."

"Yuffie," she said, and he nodded. "I'm taking some to Cloud." Taking the mugs from him, she filled them up. "The last thing I remember from last night was finishing my research bundle and resting my head on the desk for a minute. When I woke up, I was in my bed and he was asleep in the one across from me."

"He's worried about you."  
>"When is he not? Even when I'm <em>dead<em> I can't make him get on with his own life."

They paused to take sips of their coffee. Vincent stifled a cough and Aeris's face soured.

"Too strong!"  
>"Maybe add milk?"<p>

She grabbed a small pitcher out of the fridge and liberally dosed both cups, then returned it. They waited a minute to recover.

"Is Yuffie going to Wutai today?"  
>"In a half hour," he nodded. "She is going with Nananki to Cosmo Canyon first."<br>"Are you not going with them?"  
>"She asked me not to."<p>

They paused again to test the coffee, this time satisfied with the taste so much that Vincent pulled two more mugs from the cabinet, assuming Aeris would also like some.

"Thank you," she said as she took them, fixing them up just like the ones before. When she had put the milk away again, she looked at him.

"So, you and Yuffie? How long has that been going on?"  
>"It hasn't."<br>She only hid a smile in her mug. "Fine, fine. I'll keep it to myself."

Oh, Aeris. Such a girl.

"It's not very warm down here. These won't stay hot for long."  
>"Right," picking up Cloud's coffee, she led the way out of the kitchen. "See you later!"<p>

...~~~...~~~...

_Sephiroth loomed not two feet from where they were, but he wasn't afraid. Not then._

_"The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing. Aeris is gone."_

_She was so pale, and her skin was getting colder by the second._

_"Aeris will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry... or get angry..."_

_Distantly he could hear Yuffie screaming, but he didn't move. He __couldn't.__ Every part of him was numb._

_"What about us... what are WE supposed to do?"_

_Aeris was gone._

_"What about my pain?"_

_He said more, but as he spoke his voice became muffled. Beside him, someone gripped his shoulder and shook him...over...and over... And-._

"Cloud?"

With a start Cloud awoke- eyes snapping open, SOLDIER sense on edge. His instincts went into overdrive as he grabbed the perpetrator by the arm and yanked them down, twisting around so that both of them tumbled across the bed and into the floor.

He had no weapons on him, which turned out to be a good thing. As the fog of his flashback/nightmare cleared he found himself staring down at Aeris, who- despite the circumstances- looked incredibly calm.

"I brought you coffee."

He blinked, absorbing the reality that was him literally lying on top of her. Her wrists were pinned to the floor by his hands, but she never squirmed, never fought to get away. She just watched him and waited.

Snapping out of his trance he pulled back, shaking his head.

"Aeris, I'm so sorry. I was-."  
>"Having a nightmare." She sat up, checking her hair. "I could tell."<br>He winced. "Was I talking?"  
>"No. You just...looked upset."<p>

He stood, offering her a hand which she took and pulled herself up, then retrieved his coffee.

"Here, maybe this will help."  
>"Thanks." He sat back down on the bed he'd rolled off of and she curled up next to him, leaning her back against the footboard as she hugged her knees in and faced him.<p>

"What was it about?"  
>"Hm?"<br>"The nightmare? What was it about?"  
>"Oh," he hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "I...don't remember."<br>"Last night must've been pretty crazy, for you to be having such eventful dreams."

He shrugged. "Not really. No one found anything in the research; the Turks came into town; Yuffie almost killed Reno."

"How does that qualify as 'not really'?" she crowed. "I can't believe I missed so much! What did the Turks want?"  
>"Can't say for sure. Rude's locked up down the hall. Reno's downstairs."<br>"We're holding them?"

"Well," he shifted uncomfortably, glancing at her. "They came here asking about you. When we said they couldn't see you, they opted to just leave."  
>She furrowed her brow. "Suspicious."<br>"Yeah."  
>"Why couldn't they see me?"<p>

He paused, caught off-guard by the question. "Be...cause they tried to kill you?"  
>"Technically <em>Vecena<em> tried to kill _all_ of us. In my personal experience the Turks have only ever tried to _capture_ me."  
>"That still isn't OK."<br>"Well, no, but the chances of them walking out with me aren't that great when everyone knows they're here."

The conversation was amusingly confusing to Cloud. He shook his head.

"Well, if you want to see them, you know where they are."

Just then, the door to the room opened and in tromped Cid and Barret.

"Aeris, have you seen- oh," the big man stopped when he saw the pair sitting on the bed. "Cloud...you're in here..."  
>"Well, well, well- what the hell do we have here?" Cid teased, stepping out beside Barret. "You two shackin' up or what?"<p>

Cloud choked. Aeris laughed, patting him on the arm as she stood.

"He was just bringing me up to speed on things- everyone's research and the Turks."  
>"Useless," Barret grunted. "...both of 'em."<p>

"Well, we got more up-to-speediness for your early-bird asses." Cid pulled the note from his front pocket and handed it to Cloud. "From Tifa."

He unfolded the letter, holding it out when Aeris leaned in next to him to read it.

"Her materia's in Edge?"  
>"She went <em>alone<em>?"

Cloud shook his head. "She can't be out there by herself."

"She ain't." Cid snuffed his nose. "I'm guessing she took Ladybird to get there- it's the only way she'd make it back by the morning."

"We have to go after her," Cloud stood, pacing the room to find his equipment before remembering he wasn't in_ his_ room.

Normally everyone would have been right behind him, but with things the way they were, they all already knew what he was suggesting was a bad idea.

"Cloud, we can't." Cid said. "We've only got two spare planes. Reeve's got one and Red an' Yuffie are takin' the other one today."

He turned to face them. "What? Why not take the ship then?"

They didn't answer, but they didn't have to. Cloud knew they couldn't take the Shera to find a needle in a haystack, not when Rufus and Vecena could show up at any moment.

"She'll come back, man," Barret tried to reassure him. "She's grown. She's strong. Just trust her."

"Something about this doesn't feel right," he said quietly, pulling his PHS out to try and call her. It went to voicemail. Grumbling he snapped his phone shut. "Maybe I could go with you guys to Old Midgar, then travel on to Edge and see if she's there...?" Even as he said it, he knew that wouldn't work either, muttering to himself, "She may already be gone by then. Dammit."

He continued pacing. Cid and Barret patiently waited for him to sort through his inner turmoil. Behind him, Aeris stood quietly. She sipped her coffee, seeming to be thinking about something, all the while listening to the hushed voice in the back of her mind.

_Go to Reno._

"Excuse me," she murmured as she moved forward, barely disturbing the older men as she passed them to go out into the hallway. Everyone was so focused on the situation with Tifa that they didn't notice when she left to go down the hall to the stairs leading to Reno's cell.

...~~~...~~~...

Reeve stroked his beard thoughtfully as he stared out the airplane window.

"I hope we're not too late."

He gave the pilot a puzzled look, and the young man went on.

"For the materia."

A pause, and Reeve nodded. "Me too."

Never before had it occurred to him that Cid's crew actually listened to what was going on around them in between their Captain barking out orders. It was enlightening.

"What was your name?"  
>"Davies, sir."<br>"How long have you been a pilot, Davies?"  
>"About six years, sir."<br>"And how long have you worked for Cid?"  
>"Coming up on a year, sir."<br>"No need for the formality, Davies."  
>"Thank you, sir- I mean, thank you."<p>

"Did you know what you were getting into when you applied to work on Highwind's crew?"  
>"Oh, yes," he grinned. "I've heard the stories. We all have. It's why most of us signed up."<br>"Oh really?"  
>"Who wouldn't want to be a part of helping to keep the Planet safe?"<br>"It can get dangerous, you know."  
>"That's alright. I'm not afraid."<p>

Reeve smiled, admiring his spirit.

"And do you enjoy flying these smaller planes, too?"  
>He shrugged. "I like it just fine. I prefer the airships though."<br>"Yes, so do I. It seems they have to go through quite a bit of repair after use though, correct?"

"The ones that were deployed from the Shera when that giant water monster attacked weren't designed for continuous use. Once they landed, a lot of them fell apart. Captain Highwind said he wants to upgrade as many as we can afford to so that never happens again."

"That will take a while."  
>"That's why we're back to the planes."<br>"Hm."

As if it heard them talking about it, the plane gave a sudden lurch, dropping about a hundred feet in the sky.

"What's happening?" Reeve said, gripping the armrests of his seat. "Is the engine failing?"  
>"It's a mechanized reaction," Davies replied, flipping a few switches and checking the radar. "There's something nearby sucking out the energy."<p>

Reeve twisted in his seat, craning his neck to see what might be around.

"There's nothing near us."

"Wait a tic." the young pilot flipped another switch and hit a button. Behind them, a door opened in the bottom of the plane, releasing a small, round object.

Without hesitation Davies picked up his radio and held it close.

"Detonate."

A loud 'ping' sounded. Reeve stared at the man, then followed his gaze to the screen between them. The ball was a detection sonar, and he'd activated it in the air to show what was sucking out their power.

It was an airship. A very large airship. And it was right below them.

"It has an invisibility shield."  
>"How did you know to do that?"<br>"Space Exploration Theory 101, Mr. Tuesti." He picked the radio up again, glancing at him. "Should I call the Captain?"

"No." He reached over and pressed a hand over his, pushing it down. "Not yet."  
>"You don't seem concerned."<br>"I'm not."

He was surprised. "It has ShinRa's signature all over it- _and _an invisibility shield. You aren't even a little worried?"  
>"I should hope not," Reeve sighed, pulling out his PHS and checking a few things. "It's <em>my <em>ship."

Davies hesitated, but quickly regained his composure.

"Orders then?"

Reeve looked at the radar again, then down through the glass window in the floor at what appeared to just be the ground below them.

"Think you can land on the ship?"  
>"An invisible runway?"<br>"That's right."  
>"With my eyes closed, sir."<p>

...~~~...~~~...

Reno was bored. You know, like he usually is.

His face didn't hurt like it had the night before. After a few more hi-potions and some rest, the swelling was practically gone and the mark was down to a slight purple discoloration. Still, the biggest bruise was on his ego, which smarted every time he thought of the night before.

"Twiggy little ninja brat," he muttered as he examined the wound in the mirror for what was probably the tenth time that morning. It was probably the thirtieth time in the last five minutes he'd cursed at Yuffie, but that was normal for him. Something about swearing at the ninja- even when she wasn't around- made him feel better.

"I will _never _admit defeat to her scrawny ass."

In the reflection, Aeris appeared in the doorway.

"Gah!" he yelped, jumping around to face the Ancient as she stared at him from the other side of the bars. Grappling for something to hold on to, he knocked most of the complimentary items off the dresser he leaned against, eventually sitting down in the floor and scooting underneath it in an attempt to put more distance between them.

When the sound of things falling over had stopped and his whimpering quieted, Aeris knelt down to eye level with him.

"Are you done?"  
>"You're dead."<br>"No. I'm not."  
>"I saw your corpse."<p>

"Rufus and Yuffie accidentally resurrected me." She paused. "More so an accident on Yuffie's part."  
>"Why are you here? Are you going to kill me?"<br>She rolled her eyes. "Didn't _you _come here looking for _me_?"  
>"I just wanted to see you. I didn't actually want to talk."<p>

They were quiet for a moment. Reno cleared his throat.

"What do you want?"  
>Aeris sighed. "I need you to tell me where Tifa went."<p>

He blinked. "What makes you think I-," when he caught her impatient look, he dropped his facade. "Right. Planet-speak or some otherworld bullshit."

She waited. He crawled out from under the dresser.

"You really aren't going to kill me, are you?"

Again, no answer. She stood up when he did.

"So she ran, did she? I fuckin' knew she would run. I always say I know a runner when I see one-."  
>"Reno."<p>

He looked at her, still too cautious to walk closer.

"Why should I tell you? What do I get out of it?"

Aeris quirked her lips in irritation, then reached into one of the pockets on her skirt and pulled out a bright blue materia.

"This was sent back with me from the Lifestream," she said. "It gives me the power to extract souls and stay young forever."  
>A look of horror crossed his face. "W...what?!"<br>"If you tell me where Tifa went. I won't use it."

"H-holy hell-," he stammered. "Look, I just told her where her materia is, yo! It's in my old apartment, above the factory in Mideel. I tried to tell her she needed to tell Cloud-."

"Why didn't_ you_ tell Cloud?"

"I didn't get the chance, not that I cared. I don't like talking to that prick, OK? Tifa's nice to me- she's nice to everybody. She's too good for him. The poor bastard doesn't know good he's got it! Please don't suck out my soul!"

Aeris took his blubbering in stride.

"Why did you come here?"

"To see you, like I said-," she held up the materia, and he jumped back. "A-and to tell Cloud about the materia! I was gonna tell him before Yuffie jumped me, then he locked us up before I could say anything. I swear I'm telling the truth, yo. You gotta believe me!"

She studied him, narrowing her eyes.

"Why tell him now? Why tell him at all?"

"We don't want the planet to die any more than you do! We knew you guys were setting out to look for the materia, and after Tifa went to Reeve about throwing out hers in Mideel, the Boss left for the Tower in Edge to see if it's there." He caught her inquisitive look and groaned, swiping a hand down his face. "Son of a- Reeve is wired, OK? He doesn't know it, it's only been a couple days since the bug was planted in his jacket!"

He squirmed, waiting for her to absorb the massive amount of information.

"So, Reeve is wired, and you overheard him and Tifa talking about her materia. You _don't _want Vecena to kill us all so you came here to tell Cloud; Yuffie attacked you and you got put in here before anyone could hear your story."

"Right."  
>"Cloud told me you had said you were leaving after he told you you couldn't see me."<br>"We would have found Red and told him before we left. That was the backup plan."  
>"But you got locked up in here, so you told Tifa."<br>"Honestly, I would have told anyone. She was just the first one of you guys to wander by."

"Lucky," she muttered, then, "She left a note saying she's gone to Edge."

"Probably a decoy- that's where she and Reeve had planned to go first. When he gets back from Costa he'll probably push to go after her, thinking she's walking into ShinRa Tower alone."

"He'll have to tell Cloud what's going on."  
>"Right, and then they'll leave for Edge."<br>"But she won't be there," she looked at him. "She's going to Mideel."

"Which is stupid, because if Rufus heard the transmission, _he_ probably went to the Tower to look and left Vecena-."

"-To go to Mideel," she finished, looking slightly panicked as she tried to focus. "She would kill her if she found her. Cloud-," she turned from the cell, starting down the hall. "I have to tell Cloud-."

She was stopped when what felt like electricity rocked through her body. Letting out a weak yelp she dropped to her knees, clutching her chest as a distantly familiar warmth enveloped her.

_Cloud cannot go. That will only seal Our fate. If Reno follows, she will live. _

The spark left her, and she gasped for air.

"I haven't missed that," she choked, sitting back on her legs.

Behind her, Reno had walked to the bars to look out at her.

"Are you OK?"  
>"I'm fine," she stood back up and turned to him. He shrank a few steps away.<p>

"What was that about?"  
>"Change of plans- <em>you <em>have to go get Tifa."  
>He raised his eyebrows. "...Come again?"<br>"You. You have to follow after her and make sure she gets back here."

He wrinkled his nose. "That's the worst idea I've heard in a long time. Why would you think me following her would-," he paused, a realization dawning over him. "Wait, did...did the Planet tell you to send me? Was that what that whole 'tripping over air' bit was?"

"Yes." She didn't feel the need to hide her ability from him, busying herself with picking the lock to his cell with a couple of pins she'd pulled from her hair.

"Holy shit, this is getting real then." Seeing what she was doing, he shook his head. "Bobby pins? No no, here-."

Reaching into his goggles he pulled out a small switchblade and flipped it open. A few seconds of digging in the keyhole and the cell door popped open.

Aeris looked at him dully. "You've been able to get out this entire time?"

"Babe, when you've spent most of the last two years being ordered around by some faceless witch, you take R and R whenever you can get it. Quiet space? Soft bed? Decent food? It's alright with me."

She couldn't argue with that. Stepping out to face her, he looked down nervously.

"So, what now? Can you teleport me to where she is or something?"

When he saw she didn't seem appeased he scratched his neck.

"Hey, you can't fault me for askin'. I don't know how that Ancient stuff works."  
>"It doesn't work like <em>that<em>."

She started down the hallway toward the stairs. He followed.

"Looked uncomfortable- the way it hit you."  
>"It doesn't usually do it that way. Only when it's desperate for me to pay attention and I'm having trouble listening."<br>"You're having trouble listening?"

"Maybe- no-...I don't know." She shook her head, not wanting to talk about it. Carefully they made their way to the surface, moving quickly and casually so not to attract unwanted attention. Luckily it was still early enough that most of the underground was asleep. When they passed the room where Cloud, Barret and Cid were, they overheard the men explaining the situation to someone else- probably Nanaki- so they were distracted.

When they finally reached the surface, Reno stretched and pulled out a cigarette.

"Thank the gods. It's sunny."  
>"You know which way she went?"<br>"If she took a bird, yeah."  
>"She did."<p>

"If she left last night, she's got a pretty good jump on me. Lucky for us, I know a shortcut." shoving a hand in his coat pocket, he began strolling out into the field beside them.

"Where are you going?" she called after him.

He kept walking, pausing after thirty feet or so to look at the ground and shuffle about. He waved his arm in the air a few times, and it took about that long for Aeris to see he was hitting something.

The air in front of him wavered, and a small airship appeared.

Aeris ran up to him, staring at the tech in awe.

He grinned. "New model."  
>"It's beautiful," she admired, touching the side. "I really <em>did <em>miss a lot, didn't I?"

"Eh, this is _brand _new, so you actually came back just in time."

She smiled. He opened the door.

"I'd better get going if I wanna get to her before she gets there."  
>"Wait."<p>

He turned to her on the stairs just in time to catch her blue "soul materia" as she tossed it to him.

"Holy sh-!" he squeaked. When she started giggling he waved it at her. "What the hell is this about?"

"It's a mastered All. You could probably use it on the trip."

He narrowed his eyes, grumbling. "You played me like a goddamn board game, dead girl."  
>"Yes I did."<br>"But the thing about Tifa?"  
>Her face sobered. "Completely true, I'm afraid."<p>

"Fine," he tucked the materia away and slid through the doorway. "I'm off! Tell Rude I'm sorry for ditching him!"  
>"Tell him yourself when you get back."<p>

But he didn't hear her through the shut door. Aeris stood back and watched as the ship fired up and lifted off, the wind from the engines blowing mercilessly about her as she silently prayed Tifa would be alright.

...~~~...~~~...

The landing atop Reeve's invisible airship had been flawless.

"By the gods, Davies. You would think this thing had a runway."  
>"Thank you, sir."<p>

The airship had entered stationary mode the moment the small plane had touched down, making it much easier to land. Whomever was following was apparently watching them closely.

As Reeve prepared to exit the plane, Davies cleared his throat.

"Sir?" When Reeve looked at him he averted his gaze. "This isn't some...double agent business, is it? I mean- am I going to be killed for being here?"

"Davies, I believe it might be an unforgivable sin to kill a pilot with your talent, but no- this isn't something you need to worry about dying for. Come along, if you'd like."  
>"Yes, sir."<p>

They both got out, and Reeve led the way to the door that was already open and waiting for them to enter.

When they descended into the airship, Tseng was there to greet them.

"Reeve," he said, handing the man a glass of scotch. Then, to Davies, "Impressive landing, pilot."  
>"Thank you."<p>

"Davies," Reeve looked at him. "The kitchen is just down those stairs on the right. Help yourself to anything. We won't be long-." he glanced at Tseng. "Right?"

"No, we won't."

Davies was happy to oblige, quickly leaving the two alone.

"What's this about?"  
>"Come with me."<p>

He followed the Turk down the hall and into the ship's tactics chamber.

"Shut the door."

He did so, then turned after Tseng.

"Tseng this isn't the time for-."

Before he could finish, Tseng had grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled it open, reaching inside. Reeve startled, but said nothing as he ripped a part of the lining and pulled out a small fray of wires, dropping them into a nearby glass of water.

"You were bugged. The signal's been scrambled since you left the beach, so anything you've said since then hasn't been heard, but it picked up plenty before that."

Reeve moaned, sinking into the nearest chair and dropping his face into his hands.

"Blessed Mother- how long?"  
>"I'm assuming since the last time you were at the Tower, just before you left for Rocket Town."<p>

Reeve moaned again, leaning back.

"He knows, then. He knows everything- about me, about the materia."  
>"He knows you're looking for it, and he knows both you and Tifa have misplaced yours."<br>"My materia-."

"Is here," he walked to the end of the table and removed a sheet from a heap that lay on the surface, revealing the mangled Cait Sith.

"Cait," he breathed his first inkling of relief, rushing to check the tech and remove his materia. He looked to Tseng. "You retrieved it after hearing our conversation in Rocket Town."

"Yes."  
>"What else does the President know?"<br>"Everything, but right now your biggest concern is finding Tifa's materia before he does."

Reeve struggled to think through the panic that was trying to overcome him.

"We need to go to Edge- _now_."

"I've already made the call. Many of my subordinates on the inside have begun moving boxes with strangely colored materia in them to one of the storage rooms on the lower level. If we can get there in the next hour the guards will be changing shift, so it will be easy to sneak in.

"Then we should go."  
>"And Tifa?"<br>"I'll call and tell her what's happening. Perhaps she and the others could start for Mideel just in case?"  
>"That would be a safe idea, but you won't be able to make the call until we reach Edge- we're traveling in stealth mode."<p>

"Fine," he picked up Cait Sith. "I'll need to bring Davies up to speed and send him back-."  
>"Reeve, we don't have time-."<br>"It won't take but a few minutes. They need that plane to retrieve the rest of their materia."

Tseng hesitated, then sighed compliance. Once Reeve had left, the Turk sat down in the recently vacated chair and took a sip of Reeve's abandoned drink.

"I believe it's going to be a long day."

...~~~...~~~...~~~...

She knew there was coffee nearby, she could smell it.

"Hmm." Her eyes dared to open, momentarily bracing for an onslaught of sunlight before remembering where she was. Underground equaled no sunshine. There was, however, a decent amount of lantern light in the room.

(Not too bad, I could get used to that.)

She breathed deeply, taking in another whiff of coffee as she did so. Stretching, she rolled from her side to her back, freezing when she caught sight of Vincent sitting quietly next to her.

"...How long have you been there?"

"Not very long."

He held out a mug, revealing that there was indeed coffee nearby- right next to her, even.

"What time is it?" She pushed up and turned to face him, tentatively setting her bare feet on the cold hardwood beneath her.

"Nearly five-thirty," she took the cup from his hand, and he leaned back in his chair. "You have some time to get ready."

"I'm surprised Red hasn't come down here to see if I'm up."

"I believe I saw him going into a room where Cloud, Cid and Barret were. Something seems to be going on."  
>"And you weren't the least bit curious as to what that might've been?"<br>"I felt this was a better way to spend my morning."

She turned her head in a feeble attempt to hide the blush creeping into her cheeks. Sipping the warm drink in her hands, she scrambled to think of something to say.

"Any plans for today?"  
>"To stay here, if you'd consider that a plan."<br>"Cid and Barret are going to Old Midgar. You could go with them?"

"I've already been there once in the last month, that's enough for me." He caught her confused look. "We went there to find Cloud after you were taken."  
>"Ah."<br>"I hear the weather will be nice in Cosmo Canyon," he noted, voice slightly suggestive.

The way he said it made her chuckle. "You know, if you just told Red you were coming I wouldn't be able to stop you."

She couldn't see the slight smile behind his ascot.

"I would rather you be happy with me."  
>"I'm always happy with you."<p>

She froze. (Holy hell, you just said that out loud. Good gawd, Yuffie, pull it together!)

So busy was she with scolding herself that she didn't notice Vincent sit upright in his chair and set his coffee on the nightstand. It wasn't until he took the mug out of her hands that she snapped out of it, only to be re-entranced almost immediately by his eyes on her.

There was no warning. He pulled the cloth below his chin, took her face in his hands and leaned in to kiss her.

"Vincent," she breathed, her body aching as his hands slid to her shoulders. The feel of his metal claw against her skin made her shudder involuntarily, but she didn't care.

He wanted this. He wanted _her_. As much as his subconscious whined at him for the way he felt, the sight of her smile and the sound of her voice had triggered something dormant inside him, something he'd never thought he'd feel again.

She reached up and nimbly unbuckled the belts that held his cloak. When it slid to the floor he let go of her and moved forward, sitting beside her on the bed and guiding her to straddle his waist.

"Is this happening?" she murmured, but he was so enamored with her lips he couldn't respond.

It didn't bother her. Stripping off her shirt she leaned against him, kissing his neck while helping him get his own shirt over his head and into the floor with hers. His skin was surprisingly warm- a heat she was quick to absorb as they fell back in the bed.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. The couple stilled.

"Yuffie, are you awake?"

It was Nanaki.

"Yes," she called back, praying her voice didn't sound as strangled as it felt.

"It's fifteen til six. We need to get going."

"Okay, I'll be right out."

Silence, then the sound of his paws shuffling about. Her heart was nearly pounding out of her chest. Had he actually left? After _that_?

Vincent was quick to pull her back into the moment, carefully wrapping his metal arm around her and rolling to put her beneath him. She whimpered as he pressed his lips to the nape of her neck, her body begging him to remove her-.

"Reeve still hasn't returned from Costa del Sol, you know."

OK, so he hadn't left.

"Ifrit's ass!" she hissed.  
>"Is everything OK?"<br>"Fine," she groaned.

In that instant Yuffie and Vincent knew they couldn't go any further- cursing their screaming hormones as they sat upright. Without thinking about the casualty of their affection, she leaned against his chest and he kissed the top of her head, both of them distantly listening to Nanaki as he went on to tell her the events of the morning.

It was like listening the news, in a sense. After the first minute the two broke apart to retrieve their clothes, finishing their coffee as they went. As the beast wrapped up his impromptu broadcast, Yuffie helped Vincent re-buckle his cape. They walked to the door and he grabbed her shoulder, turning her around and pulling her into one last long kiss before she opened the door.

"And that's everything, I think," Nanaki finished, looking up at her. He tilted his head curiously when he saw the gunslinger. "Oh, Vincent. I didn't know you were in there too."

"I saw you were busy with the others, so I came to bring her coffee and make sure she was awake."  
>"That was thoughtful."<br>"I try."

He looked at the ninja. "You could have let me come in then, instead of keeping me out here."  
>"It was more fun this way," her frustration was still present, but it ebbed slightly at the thought of Red being just as annoyed as she was.<p>

(Though for an _entirely _different reason.)

They left the Underground and entered a nearby field. A plane was waiting for them on the other side.

"We'll be back by morning," Nanaki said to Vincent. "I suppose you, Cloud and Aeris will just have to wait here for everyone to come back."  
>"I suppose you're right."<p>

"Well," Yuffie started with a big sigh. "See you then, Vinnie!"

She waved to him and went ahead to board. When she was a good distance away, Nanaki glanced up at his old friend.

"I don't believe she realizes the more she attempts to act 'normal' the more obvious she becomes."

He smiled, but said nothing. There was no further exchange as the beast walked on to the plane. Not that Vincent had expected one- he and Nanaki had never really been creatures of verbal communication. It didn't surprise him that he knew- or at least suspected- what was going on, but right then wasn't the time to talk about it.

Then again, even if it _had_ been the time, he still wasn't entirely certain he would have been able to explain himself.

From the window, Yuffie looked out at him. Unlike he and Nanaki she _was _a creature of verbal communication, but so far they'd only spoken in body language and vague, brief sentences.

(You'll figure things out soon enough,) he tried to tell himself. Even still, there was a strange sense of urgency that tickled his mind when he looked at her- something that warned him to keep her close, to look after her.

And there he was, letting her go.

She waved to him as they started to move, and and held up a hand to bid her good-bye.

"She'll be back tomorrow," he said aloud, finding it didn't help at all. In fact, the moment he said the words he couldn't help but feel he'd jinxed them both.

Oh, how right he was.

...~~~...~~~...

**A/N: Thank you to the following!**

**Reviews:**  
><strong>Guest<strong>: I know! Poor Tifa. Cloud needs to get his crap together! :D

**Celestia N Luna: **:) I love Tifa and Yuffie, too. I WILL try to keep it up! Thanks!  
><strong><br>CupofTeaforAliceandHatter: **Better? ;D And you're definitely right about Tifa/Cloud. With all the things he's kept from her, I don't think one little half-truth will hurt anything (or WILL it?!). XD  
><strong><br>penelos: **Welcome aboard! Thank you for all the compliments! I love a good Yuffentine as well, I hope this one continues to be on your 'good' list! :)  
><strong><br>Blackstar Angel**: No worries, hope you had a great break! :D Everyone loves to hate/love Reno. I know I do! Something about him is so frustratingly handsome, which makes him fun to write. Thanks for reviewing!

**New Favs/Followers:  
>Hereticome, Soulless Scotsman, kieli13, Quenya, <strong>and **penelos!**

I don't know if I ever mentioned it on here, but the oneshot **Tired** has been up for a bit. It'll explain some of the weirdness between **Reno** and **Tifa**.

**Thanks for reading!**


	26. Chapter 26: Airplanes

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Airplanes**

The sun had just begun to peak over the hills as Tifa descended out of the mountains. It had been a long night.

Beneath her, Ladybird warked softly, as if to say, "I'm glad _that's_ over with, I'm exhausted."

"I know girl, I'm tired too," she replied, leaning forward and patting the chocobo's soft neck.

In the distance, Condor was just visible.

The fort-turned-town had begun growing shortly after AVALANCHE helped them to win their battle against ShinRa during Sephiroth's overlying reign of terror some five years ago. Now it was roughly the size of Rocket Town but with twice the people.

Back then, none of them could have imagined the place getting so big- Cid had said something about it lasting maybe a month once the war-aid was gone. Even then, the group had opted to assist the struggling village in their time of need.

"As if one war isn't enough to worry about," Cloud had said when the Elder asked for their help. "At least we can end this one now."

Days after the dust from the last battle settled people began moving _to_ the Fort (much to everyone's surprise), drawn by rumors of the rich soil and nearby hot springs. When crop season came farmers realized they had struck gold, leading to the boom that made the town what it was now- one of the Planet's main producers of soybeans.

"I'm sure they'll have some greens for you." Tifa gently nudged her bird to continue on toward the village. "You can rest, I'll grab a quick bite to eat and a nap; Mideel isn't but a few more hours ahead."

Lady cooed, quickly making the trek between the mountains and Condor.

Even though it was early many people were out in the streets, readying their kiosks. A few of them offered to take Lady for her but she politely declined, instead leading her ride to a familiar stable near the center of town.

She smiled when a small barn came into view with the nameplate "Brick's Bar/n" nailed above the front door.

Brick was one of the mercenaries Condor had hired to fight against ShinRa back in the war. He was a Defender- and he looked every bit the part. Tall, broad, muscular, and a glare that could melt rocks, if he wanted- though the moment he smiled and spoke it became hard to believe he could ever hurt anyone.

He was one of the few that had stuck around after ShinRa fell. The other two were Gladys, the Repairer-turned-Doctor who ran a clinic on the far end of town, and Jolt, the Shooter who stayed on as a town watchman. They hadn't really had anything to do with one another before the war, but when it was all over and everyone else went home, they found a common ground in that none of _them had_ homes, so they stayed and made their nests in Condor.

Brick's contribution to the city was a wildly successful bar/stable/inn- an idea Tifa had given him during AVALANCHE's time there. He'd erected the building at the bottom of the hill in front of the old Fort, and the city had been growing around it ever since.

Leading Lady inside, she gave a loud knock on the wall.

"Brick! You home?"

A shuffle of feet, and the large black man poked his head out from the kitchen in the back.

"'Ey, Tifa! I thought that was your voice!"  
>"Sleeping on the job again?" she teased as he walked out, wiping his hands off on his apron.<p>

"I wish! This last week has been crazy with traders coming in- I've been having to get up early just to get a jump on the rush. -Hey, Ladybird!" He grinned when the chocobo warked at him, then pat her on the beak when she stretched over the bar to say hello. "I know what _you _want."  
>Reaching into a box behind him he pulled out a handful of greens. She ate them in a few bites and chirped 'thank you.'<p>

"Anything for a pretty bird like you."  
>Tifa smiled. "I'm glad you're doing so well."<br>"Thanks, I'll take it while it lasts! Can I get ya anything?"  
>"Got any breakfast cooking?"<br>"Of course. I'll bring somethin' right out. You stayin' for a bit?"

He walked back into the kitchen. Tifa leaned over the bar.

"Yeah," she called. "I was hoping we could catch a few hours of sleep before heading out. We're on our way to Mideel."  
>"No problem! Stalls are open down the hall. I'll get you a key to one of the rooms."<br>"Thanks."

Sliding to the floor, she took Ladybird back to the stables and tucked her in.

It was a nice setup, the bar/stable/inn- something she had once wanted for her place in Rocket Town. The only thing was, people traveling through Rocket Town didn't usually come by way of chocobo, and most of her customers had houses nearby. The Inn was mainly used by her friends and the occasional 'too drunk to go home' patron. Condor, however, with it's booming economy and rising tourist population, _needed_ a bar like Brick's.

"Do Gladys and Jolt still come around?" she asked as she walked back to the main room, where he had just re-emerged from the kitchen with a plate of hot breakfast and a glass of orange juice.

"Every night, six-to-nine," he smiled, setting her food and drink down. "They're doin' pretty good. I keep wondering how long it's gonna be before they finally get together."  
>"They like each other?"<br>"They'd never say it."  
>"How do you know then?"<p>

"It's in the eyes," he said, turning to the counter behind him to rearrange some glasses. "Really, anytime you're wonderin' about that sort of thing, watch the eyes. Women are a bit sneakier about it- they get that dreamy look when the guy's leavin' or walkin' somewhere across the room. Men get it every time the girl turns her head."

"Uh-huh."

"I'm serious! She's not looking at him so she can't see it, but anyone nearby can read it like a billboard. Happens with those two every night."

Tifa hummed, taking a bite of her eggs. "I'll have to remember that."

Brick chuckled, turning back to face her. "So, Mideel, huh?"  
>"Yeah, I'm just... Running an errand."<br>"Must be one hell of an errand to drag you to _that_ wasteland. Sure is one hell of a run, too. You still livin' in Edge?"  
>"Rocket Town, actually."<br>"Shiva! That really _is _a run. An' old Cid made you take a _bird?"_

The awkward smile and slight shake of her head triggered the "You're asking too many questions" flag. Brick didn't know Tifa _that _well, but he knew women in general well enough to know when one didn't want to talk about something.

"Well," he said, voice softening. "You know you're welcome here anytime."  
>"Thanks, Brick."<p>

The bell above the door rang and he paused, giving her a warm, knowing look before setting a room key in front of her and going to greet his new customers.

"Thanks," she muttered again, finishing the last of her food and leaving to go upstairs.

...~~~...~~~...

Cloud and Aeris sat at the Kalm Inn restaurant, both of them quietly worrying as they ate their breakfast.

"I just don't see why she would have wanted to go alone."  
>"You know how much she worries about everyone else. I'm sure she was just afraid of inconveniencing someone."<br>"Why?"  
>"Because you were tired, and-."<p>

"No," he shook his head. "I mean, _why _is she like that? Why are _you _like that?" Breathing in deeply he leaned back in his chair, looking out the window and rubbing his neck. "As long as I've known both of you, every time you do something alone so not to 'inconvenience' me or anyone else, something bad happens. You get kidnapped; you get hurt; you _die_."

Despite his sour mood, Aeris couldn't help but smile a little.

"Now we have to just wait," he went on. "Just me, you, Vincent- wherever _he_ is- and Reeve, if he ever gets back so Cid and Barret can leave. Not to mention we've still got Rude and Reno locked up."

At the mention of the Turks a knot formed in her stomach.

"I should probably go check on them," he mumbled, pushing away from the table to stand. "Are you OK if I leave?"  
>"Cloud-," she started. When he looked at her she turned her head, unable to make eye contact. "What's wrong?" he asked, immediately concerned. Aeris was never timid. About anything. "It's...it's Reno."<p>

He looked very serious, and sat back down.

"Did you talk to him? Did he say something to you?"  
>"No, well- sort of..."<p>

"Cloud!"

Their attentions were turned to the door where Barret stood, waving his gun arm.

"Reno's gone."  
>"What?!" Cloud jumped to his feet again, crossing to the bigger man. "Since when?"<br>"Don't know. Cid jus' went down and saw his door open. Says Rude is still locked up tight though."  
>"Son of a bitch," he muttered, then, "Aeris, stay here."<p>

She stood. "Cloud-."  
>"He'll be right back," Barret reassured her.<br>"It isn't that-." she tried, but was cut off yet again when Cloud started talking to Barret.

"Is Reeve back yet?" he asked.  
>"No, haven't heard from him either."<br>"Have you called?"  
>"Only four times in the last two hours."<br>"Where's Cid?"  
>"Down talking to Rude with Vincent."<br>"Maybe he'll-."

His PHS rang. Raising a 'hold that thought' hand, he turned his head.

"Yeah?"

He mouthed 'Reeve' to Barret, then again to Aeris as she approached.

"Are you still in Costa del Sol?..._Edge_? What are you doing in...?"

He trailed off, listening. As the conversation went on, the knot in Aeris's stomach grew. She couldn't hear what was being said, but by the look on Cloud's face she knew it wasn't good.

"_Tifa's _in Edge...I don't know, she left last night... Okay, I'll get the group together. Call back in ten? Right."

Snapping the phone shut he looked at Aeris.

"Stay here, get a bigger table. We're going to talk to Rude and get Cid and Vincent. We'll be back soon."

She would have protested, but before she could think of anything to say the two were gone. She sighed.

"This is going to be bad."

...~~~...~~~...

"I'm gonna hurl."

Nanaki looked at Yuffie, absently bringing his tail out of the floor between them.

"You've been saying that this entire time."  
>"And I'll say it until we land."<p>

"Won't be much longer!" the pilot called from the front. "I see the Canyon from here!"

He never said anything, but Yuffie imagined the Elder was thinking something like 'thank the gods.' She couldn't really blame him- they'd been on the plane for nearly three hours, and she'd been 'About to ralph' for two hours and fifty-nine minutes of it.

Trying to focus on something besides her screaming stomach, she looked at his tattoos. The one on his back leg was a little primitive, but the one on his front shoulder was huge, detailed, and looked like it probably hurt like a bitch to get.

"Did ShinRa give you that one?" she asked.

Having a sharp sense of awareness, he knew she'd been staring at him- more specifically, his markings.

"They only did the number. My grandfather did the other two."  
>"Were they painful?"<br>"Yes."

She continued to stare, and he turned his head. She almost felt bad for asking; who enjoyed talking about painful things? Still, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd gotten the marks by choice.

"Preparing to land!"

(No matter now.) She braced herself as the plane began to make its descent outside the village.

...~~~...~~~...

_"This day will never come again...so let me have this moment..."_

_It had been the greatest night of her life. He was hers, and they were alone. Even though death loomed in the distance and uncertain destruction hung in the sky, they were together. After a shy, awkward exchange, the two had settled on the grassy hill beneath the Highwind overlooking the Crater, and he'd wrapped his arms around her and held her until she fell asleep. _

_"Yeah...okay."_

_He sounded calm- calmer than he had in months- despite what they were facing. _

_"This is probably the last time we'll have together..."_

_Years from that moment she would look back and wonder why he didn't kiss her. But for then, right then, all she knew was he was there, and she loved him- literally to the end of the world..._

"Tifa."

(Please, no...)

Another loud knock, and the vision of Cloud's serene face faded.

"Tifa, you in there?"

Opening her eyes, Tifa hummed disdainfully, then shut them again for a few seconds before pushing herself upright in bed.

"Brick?"

Rolling to stand she walked to the door and cracked it, revealing the rather irritated looking barkeep.

"Sorry to wake you, it's just this guy says he knows you and-."  
>"What?" she squinted, still somewhat drowsy.<br>"He said he was here to help."

Beside the ex-mercenary a set of white knuckles appeared on the door, pulling it back.

"'Ey babe, miss me?"  
>"What the hell- <em>Reno?<em>"

What the hell Reno was right.

...~~~...~~~...

Back at the restaurant, the remaining group had reconvened- having gotten nothing out of Rude- and were sitting around a few tables that had been pushed together for them. In the center of the gathering Cloud's PHS lay open, where Reeve was on speaker.

The leader himself was standing in front of his chair, too anxious to stay seated. He leaned toward the phone as he said, "So what you're saying is: Rufus is on his way to look for Tifa's materia in Edge- which is also where Tifa is."

"It seems that way," he replied. "I can probably reach the Tower before he does-."

"'Probably'?" Cloud echoed. "Why don't I get a chocobo and meet you there? If anything happens, we're going to have to deal with getting Tifa _and_ the materia out."

The pause on Reeve's end signaled he didn't think highly of the idea. "But if the materia _isn't_ there-."

"Someone needs to go to Mideel," Cid finished, looking at Barret. "Maybe we could go get your materia later?"

He shrugged. "I'm cool with that."

"No," Cloud shook his head. "We can't push off getting these things any longer than we need to."

"Well whaddya wanna do, kid?" Cid leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms."You can't send Valentine and Aeris down there by themselves. I don't see why you can't just let Reeve handle Edge- you know that Turk is with him. Besides, you suck at sneaking around."

"What? I do not!"  
>Vincent snorted. "Yes, you do."<p>

The men chuckled, Cloud wrinkled his nose.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin looking in Mideel."  
>"I could get you a map of the warehouse," Reeve offered. "Perhaps it will be in one of the storage rooms-."<p>

"It's in Reno's apartment."

Aeris, who had been quiet the entire meeting, couldn't stand it any more. Everyone looked at her, but she didn't flinch.

"Tifa's materia," she clarified. "It's in Reno's apartment above the warehouse in Mideel."

Cloud furrowed his brow. "How do you know?"  
>She hesitated. "Because he told me...right before he broke out of his cell."<p>

Silence. At the end of the table Cid sighed, pulling out a cigarette.

"He we fuckin' go again..."

"What do you mean, 'he told you'? Why would he tell you? And why wouldn't _you_ tell someone he got out?"

"He told me because I knew he knew something. I let him go because he needed to go after Tifa."

At that, everyone but Vincent startled.

"_What?_" Cloud turned to the PHS. "Reeve, does Reno have any sort of tracking device on him that could pinpoint his location in Edge-?"

"He isn't in Edge."

Again, everyone looked at her. She shook her head.

"Tifa was lying, she went to Mideel; she said Edge to throw you off. Reno boarded an invisible airship and went after her."

"Sugar," Cid started, "I been a pilot almost thirty years and I've _never_ heard of a-."

"They exist," Reeve stopped his declaration. "I apologize, Cid, but our first stealth prototypes were just put in the air two days ago."

A pause, and Cid cocked an eyebrow, grumbling. "Well I'll be damned."

Barret looked at the Ancient. "Aeris, how do you know all this stuff?"

She hesitated, words failing her.

Vincent said softly, "The Planet told you."

Another pause, and she nodded.

"Why would you let _Reno_ go after her?" Cloud asked, sinking into the chair next to her. "If he's in a ship, he's probably reached her by now."

"Then she'll be back sooner." She turned to him. "Cloud, I would have told you before now, but-."

"What?" he stared at her, unconvinced and confused. "But what, Aeris? Did the Planet tell you to keep me out of this one, too? To let her go running off by herself the way you did?"

"She'll die if you go," she said slowly. "I don't know how or why. I just...know that she will." Her voice lowered. "_She_ doesn't _need_ to die, Cloud."

They stared at one another, and for a brief moment everyone in the room saw the raw, distressed emotion they both bore, and they pitied them.

He got up and left, PHS forgotten on the table. As he passed through the entrance the young pilot from Reeve's plane walked through the door.

"I'm here to take someone to Old Midgar?"

Cid and Barret stood, gathering up their gear and heading out. As they went they muttered their goodbyes, and Barret stopped to kiss Aeris on the top of her head and whisper "S'gonna be alright, baby girl."

Once they were gone Vincent stood, moving to sit beside Aeris as she fought away tears.

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

She sniffled, then nodded. "Yes, please."

...~~~...~~~...

"What do you want, Reno?"  
>"Can't a guy just drop in to say 'hi'?"<p>

Tifa narrowed her eyes. Brick looked at her.

"Do I need to throw his ass out?"  
>"Please," she said, shutting the door.<p>

As Brick turned on the Turk he squeaked, shrinking back.

"Wait! I'm here to take you to Mideel!"  
>"Go home, Reno."<br>"I have an airship!"  
>"I can manage without an airship."<br>"Aeris sent me!"

She stopped, jerking the door back open to look at him as Brick slung him over his shoulder.

"What?"  
>"Yeah, the dead girl totally got clued in by the Big Lady herself that if <em>I<em> didn't come with you, your ass was grass."

"Brick, hold on."

He paused, patiently holding the squirming redhead as he tried to maintain eye contact with her.

"Are you being serious right now?"  
>"Do you really think I would've come to this shit-hole if I weren't?"<p>

She thought for a second, then, "You can drop him, Brick."

The man did so, in the most literal sense. Reno hit the hallway floor with a thud and a string of curses.

"You could have _set _me down, you mammoth!"  
>"Yeah I can still <em>put<em> you down, too, boy."

Reno shriveled in the floor. Brick looked at Tifa.

"You sure I can't help you with anything? Things sound kinda serious-."  
>"I know it sounds bad," she tried to keep a smile for him. "But it'll be fine, I promise."<p>

He didn't say anything, but she could tell he knew she was lying. Brick always seemed to see through her- through everyone, really. Even still, he turned and went downstairs, where the late morning rush had just begun to pour in.

Reno continued to sit in the floor, leaning against the wall as he looked up at her.

"You know, if we go by ship we can get you back to Kalm by tonight."

There it was again- that switch from 'shifty asshole' to 'normal human being.' It was starting to mess with her head.

"Why would she send _you?_ Why not Cloud? Why not _anyone _else?"

"Believe me, I asked the same thing. But I also watched it happen- the whole 'hearing the Planet' bit. It looked pretty serious."

She looked at him. He didn't look away. She sighed.

"Let me go get my stuff."

...~~~...~~~...

**A/N: Thank you to the following...**

**Reviews:**

**CupofTeaforAliceandHatter: **I had a feeling you would like that bit. :-) Soon enough though, you'll see! ;-)

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**penelos: **I loved writing the Yuffie/Vincent part! I'm glad you liked it too. :-) Thanks for the review!

**kitty materia princess: **HA! You'll get the insight on what Nanaki REALLY knows soon enough! :-)

**Blackstar Angel: **Hopefully I can keep the updates rolling out regularly! I had hoped the coffee bit would be a good one for you guys...I don't know why, I just really like making everyone in my fics like coffee and booze, hehe!

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>shigaburiga, VioletDreamsOfDay, and WolfFlowerz! :D<strong>

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	27. Chapter 27: Queue

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Queue**

An hour had passed since they left Condor.

After liftoff Tifa kept to herself in the bay. Despite the action of actually boarding the airship with him, she still didn't trust Reno- or anyone else around, for that matter- and found she felt a little better staying as far away from anyone else as she could.

Of course, it was a luxury that never lasted.

"You're _still_ down here?"  
>"Still here, still fine," she replied unconvincingly.<p>

Reno snorted as he descended the small staircase behind her. She never turned.

"It's a pretty nice ship, you know. It wouldn't kill you to take a look around."  
>She sighed inwardly, wishing he would leave. "I think I'll just stay here, thanks."<br>"Eh, suit yourself."

Things went quiet, so she assumed he'd left; it was hard to hear whether or not the door shut over the blaring of the airship engine below. Focusing on the sound, she attempted to drive her mind away from the worried thoughts that kept trying to invade.

(Why, oh why did I come alone? I could have at least asked Barret to come with me. But what about the entire thing with the Planet telling Aeris to send Reno?)

_Reno_.

(Of all the people on Gaia…) she resisted the urge to snort. Just _thinking _that the Planet possessed some sideways plan for her and the red-head made her stomach turn.

Then again, she couldn't deny the awkward past they had.

(That was a long time ago. _Years_. No point in thinking about it now.)

In her attempt to quit thinking about _that_ she began thinking about Cloud, shuddering involuntarily. Just _being _on the Turk's ship felt like a form of treachery, she could practically hear him yelling.

_"Reno? You ran off with __Reno__?!"_

"I didn't 'run off' with him," she murmured, not realizing she was talking out loud.

"What?"

Apparently Reno _hadn't _left. She whirled to face him, startling again when she found he was only a few feet away. Pursing her lips in irritation she turned back to the railing that separated them from the bay window.

"I'm just trying to get through this, OK? This isn't a joyride."  
>"You don't mean that."<br>"I do."

A tense minute went by before Reno coyly sidled up to her, leaning his back against the banister.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Contrary to the 'flip-switch' version of him she was seeing so much of lately, Tifa _knew _he was mocking her.

"Piss off, Reno."  
>"Alright," he shrugged indifferently, shoving his hands deep into his pockets as he stood upright and strode back to the stairs leading out. "But for the record, at least <em>I offer <em>to listen."

She would have _offered him _some choice words to shove up his ass, but he was gone before she could piece them together through her irritation.

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

"It isn't your fault."

Aeris tried to laugh as she leaned on the table, carefully cupping the warm mug of hot tea between her hands.

"I really don't know whose fault it _would _be, other than mine."  
>"The Planet's?"<br>"We must never blame the Creator for the things we bring upon ourselves."

The way she said, it Vincent wasn't sure if she was reciting an Ancient scripture, or just being quaint. Either way he wasn't convinced.

"You can't be upset with yourself for delivering a message."  
>"It wasn't <em>just<em> a message, Vincent, it was a warning, and it directly involved Cloud." She sighed. "The big ones always seem to involve Cloud..."

Taking a drink, she tried to distract herself.

"Do you wish you'd gone with Yuffie now?"  
>"There is nothing I could do there that I couldn't do here. We're simply waiting now."<br>"Waiting," she echoed, quirking her lips. "Do you ever notice how bad we are at that?"  
>"What do you mean?"<br>"Someone says 'We have to wait for this- or that,' then the next thing you know half the group is gone and two people are missing."

He paused, remembering his words to Yuffie the night before.

"Yes, I suppose I have noticed."

They were quiet for a few minutes. Aeris continued sipping her tea while Vincent wondered if Yuffie had reached Cosmo Canyon safely. He was tempted to call, but even the non-human side of him knew that would be overdoing it.

(She's with Nanaki,) he reminded himself. (Everything is fine.)

"Have you had trouble hearing the Planet since you've been back?"

The Ancient hummed, mulling over the question.

"I...I don't know. I would have said no before this morning, but the transaction was so... _violent_. It hasn't done that since..." again, a moment to think, then, "Since I first met Cloud."

"You had trouble hearing it then?"

"Not exactly," she shook her head. "Not in the literal sense, anyway. It...it gave me orders. Orders to follow him. To look after him. I didn't want to. Of course, all of that was before I'd _actually_ _met _him."

"Quite the first meeting."  
>"Not all that unique, oddly enough..."<p>

She trailed off, her eyes glassing over at the distant thought of the first SOLDIER who crashed into her church.

"It feels like years since I've seen him," she said softly. "I've started to forget what he looks like."

There was more than a hint of remorse in her voice, but Vincent had no words of comfort for her. He'd never personally known Zack, but he could tell by the simple thought of him that the Ancient's spirit was connected to the man in a deeper way than probably even she understood.

On the other hand, much to everyone's dismay, there was the _other_ ex-SOLDIER to consider.

"Cloud has been very...attentive to you, since your return."

He chose his words carefully, feeling fairly positive he was the first to even attempt to speak with her about it.

"I love him," she said with a bluntness that surprised Vincent. Then, looking at him, "And I'm sure a nostalgic part of him loves me, too, but..." she shook her head. "I love Zack more, and I know Cloud knows in his heart I'm not the person he loves most, either."

"That's a lot of unspoken fact to be so sure of."  
>She shrugged. "It is what it is, and it can't be helped."<p>

They slipped into silence again, comfortable despite the contents of their conversation. Vincent knew he and Aeris had never been very close, but the connection they shared- the similarities of their lives in regard to their deadly involvements with ShinRa and their off-hand relationship with the darker parts of the Planet- was something that overshadowed formalities. He felt no need to try and 'fix things' for her.

"How do you feel when you look at her?" her quiet voice pulled him out of his daydreaming.

Knowing she was talking about Yuffie, he let out a soft breath.

"I am...fond of her."

Feeling the sudden need to check on Cloud he stood, adding as he stepped away from the table.

"She stills my soul."

He didn't see the small smile cross Aeris's face as he walked away.

~~~...~~~...~~~

In Cosmo Canyon, Yuffie sat in the floor of the Observatory, surrounded by boxes.

"You're a hoarder, Red."

"That isn't true," he snorted from across the room- ironically as he peeked out at her from behind another wall of boxes.

"I think it is. Three of the crates I just opened are nothing but rocks."  
>"They're collectibles."<br>"For what?" she crowed. "The most boring club ever?"

He ignored her. Turning to another one, she opened it to find a variety of odd shoes.

"...Are you kidding me? Shoes?! You can't even wear these!"

At the word 'shoes' Nanaki scrambled around the makeshift wall between them and bit on to the side of the box, dragging it away from her.

"Those aren't yours," he said through a mouthful of cardboard, normally calm resolve very much shaken.

However, Yuffie didn't notice. She was scowling at one of the shoes she'd managed to get out before he'd reached her.

"This one is." She gave him a feigned look of irritation. "Do you have any idea how long I looked for this goddamn shoe?"  
>"I found it in the engine room of the Highwind. How could I have known it was yours?"<p>

Unconvinced, she flipped it over to the sole, where "Yuffie" was scrawled in her 16-year-old handwriting.

He grumbled, giving no further comment as he toted the box back to his side of the room.

But she wasn't about to let it go.

"So, what? Are shoes like a Flametail fetish?"  
>"That's inappropriate."<br>"Most fetishes usually are," she replied, absently holding up the old shoe to her foot to see if she'd grown since then. "It's OK to like shoes, you know. Tifa has a closet full of them."  
>"I don't believe that relates."<br>"Why not? Because you chew up all of yours? Isn't that what you're supposed to do?"  
>"I'm not a dog."<br>"You're a _kind _of dog."

Again, no further comment. Rolling her eyes, Yuffie went back to her search.

They were looking for his materia- something he said he'd packed in a memory box and stored in the attic above the Observatory. They'd only been at it for about a half hour, and he assured her it wouldn't take long to find.

"The box will be obvious when you open it," he'd said. "And the materia is wrapped in a cloth. Be wary of touching it."

(Don't have to tell me twice,) the idea of another trip to the Otherworld was nearly enough to make her wary of even looking for it.

The sound of a television caught her attention, but she didn't get up, smiling slightly when she heard Nanaki growl as he opened the confiscated container.

(He's about to chew the shit out of those shoes,) she thought, turning to grab another box.

The moment she opened it- just like he'd said- she knew she'd found it. Aside from the covered materia there wasn't much else: a few postcards, what she assumed was Red's first headdress, and some pictures.

The pictures she pulled out, smiling slightly as she leafed through them. They were all of the team's time in the Canyon- the _first_ time. Red was in most of them, so she assumed they were taken by Bugenhagen.

One picture that caught her eye was similar to the one she'd found in the Forgotten City- the one Vecena had taken from her.

It was of the group around the big fire in the village. Aeris and Barret were sitting across from Cid and Cait Sith, watching them with amused looks as they appeared to be arguing. Cloud was still scowling, arms crossed- Tifa stood behind him laughing while she undid the braids Aeris and Yuffie had put in minutes before. On the side of the picture was Nanaki, Vincent and Yuffie. The beast was talking, and Yuffie looked like she was in the middle of a good belly-laugh. Between them, Vincent's head was turned slightly toward her, and the corner of a smiled barely peeked out from the top of his ascot.

Yuffie squinted at the picture, wishing she could remember what Red had been talking about that was so funny. Pulling the one photo away from the rest she returned the stack to the box and carefully plucked the materia out, standing.

"I found it."

He didn't respond. She rolled her eyes, crossing to the box-wall.

"Could you please stop romancing your shoes for a minute?"

Still, nothing. Trying to play it cool, she sidled around the wall, waving the picture.

"So there was this pic in the box of everyone around the fire. Do you remember...?"

She trailed off when she caught sight of the beast sitting in front of the tv, ripped up shoe seemingly forgotten beside him as he stared at the news on the screen.

The scene was one of a village on fire. The headline read: "Wutai in Flames."

Involuntarily, Yuffie dropped everything in her hands.

Nanaki shook his mane. "I'll have the pilot ready the plane."

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

Cloud sat in the above-ground bar on the edge of town, drinking a beer.

He wasn't a big drinker by nature, just when he needed to slow things down, and at the moment his mind definitely needed a change of pace.

(Why would she lie about where she was going? Doesn't she trust me? What if something happens to her?)

With every question that ran through his head he took another drink, destroying his beer in a couple of minutes. The bartender was quick to put a full one in his hand, and he had a mind to keep straight on his vicious path, but the distant thought that Tifa might need him to come save her kept him from drinking himself stupid.

(Then again, if what Aeris said is true, I _can't _save her.)

He sighed. Yet another wrench in the engine.

(An entire bunker full of people and she sends _Reno_. What a mess. That idiot couldn't find his own dick in the dark.)

Naturally he was failing to see the hypocrisy in all his worrying, but the idea of Reno alone with Tifa...

Behind him the bell on the front door rang, and he knew Vincent had entered by the sound of his boots. It didn't take long for the gunslinger to reach the bar and pull out the seat beside him.

"Busy day," he muttered.  
>"And it's only one o'clock."<br>"Anything good here?"  
>"The usual. No specials."<p>

Vincent hummed, waving down the bartender for a beer before easing back in his chair. Cloud couldn't help but notice how difficult that seemed for him- relaxing. At the same time the simple act of slouching made the normally cold man appear much more approachable.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked, turning his head slightly. "After I left?"  
>"Barret and Cid departed with the pilot from Reeve's explore. Reeve hung up in the meantime."<br>A pause, then, "Aeris?"  
>"She's still in the restaurant. She seems...at war with herself."<br>"Yeah, I know how that goes," he said softly, taking a sip of his beer and looking back to the bar.

Vincent received his drink and took the first pull bitterly. Lager had never really suited him- he was much more of a straight liquor type- but it was only one o'clock.

"I don't see how _me_ going down there could hurt her."  
>"Of course not," he replied as though they'd been talking about it for hours. "Your presence is expected, which is why the Planet intervened."<br>"Why would the Planet make it that way? Why would _I_ be a danger to her?"  
>"'You' directly are likely not the danger. Even if you were, I doubt the Planet made it so."<br>Cloud scoffed. "I thought the Planet was over everything."  
>"True, but not everything seems to be predetermined. If that were the case, why would It strive so hard to save Itself from uncontrollable calamities such as Jenova and Vecena?"<p>

Cloud gave a soft 'hmph,' unconvinced. Vincent cut his eyes to look at him.

"Perhaps you should just be happy the Planet warned you, instead of letting Tifa die."

His words made the Leader still, and for a few minutes the two drank in silence.

"I don't...I don't think I could go through that again. I don't think I could lose _her_," he murmured finally, looking up at his older friend. "Do you think It knows that?"

"The Planet knows our hearts better than we do at times, I feel," he replied with a nod. "It knows how much we can bend without breaking. It knows what parts of our spirits _need _to crack in order for us to move on and become what we were meant to be."

Cloud wasn't certain he understood what that meant, but he appreciated the sound of it.

"Then there's Aeris, who fought her fight and went on to be with the ones she loved in the Lifestream, only to be pulled back to the cold reality of this world and told to keep going."

_That _sentiment he appreciated a little less.

Before Cloud could let his mind wander down the twisted path that was his relationship with the Ancient, a man at the end of the bar waved at the bartender.

"Hey, turn that up!"

Cloud and Vincent looked at him, then to the television as the barkeep obliged the request, though it didn't take sound for them to see the image of a village on fire and the headline "Wutai in Flames."

Not bothering to finish his beer Vincent stood, dropping a few gil on the bar to cover his tab.

"I have to go."

He could only manage a slightly confused 'Okay?' before the man was gone.

It wasn't until that moment that Cloud began to realize there was something off about the nature of Vincent's relationship with Yuffie.

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

The scenery below the airship finally looked familiar- in terms of what surrounded Mideel.

"Thank the gods," Tifa mumbled, running a hand down her face. It hadn't been a very long trip, but it certainly _felt _like hours had passed.

Through an uncommon break in the sound of the airship engine running she heard the bay door open. Rolling her eyes, she prepared herself for another onslaught of Turkish charm.

"Tifa!"

The urgency in his tone struck all anticipation of humor from her mind, and she turned to find the Turk stumbling down the stairs, clutching his side.

"Reno-?"  
>"Parachutes," he choked out, "under the stairs. Get-."<p>

He cut himself short when his foot caught a step, sending him rolling the rest of the way down.

Tifa didn't yell. She didn't panic. She simply rushed to the man's side and helped him up. He was bleeding- badly. Something had gone entirely wrong.

Steadying him against the wall she went and retrieved the parachutes, intuitively starting to strap hers on as she took the other back to him.

"What happened?" she asked in a voice that was much calmer than it should have been.  
>"Mutiny," he breathed, sliding the pack on with some difficulty. "The crew received orders to kill me and any 'guests' aboard the ship."<p>

Her heart skipped a beat. "So, Rufus knows."  
>"Sure as hell seems that way."<p>

Once she had finished strapping up she helped him with his buckles, quietly praying that whatever he had planned next didn't involve fighting everyone on the airship.

"We have to jump."

That didn't sound much better.

"Reno, we're above a wasteland. There are Mako pools _everywhere_."  
>"We'll be fine."<br>"Reno-."

At the top of the stairs, the door began rattling. Someone was trying to break it in.

"You can't run forever, Reno!"  
>"Oh yeah?" he yelled back. "Guess I'll just have to fly!"<p>

Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a grenade, ripped the pin and threw it into the bay window.

Before Tifa could react, Reno put an arm around her and twisted her back against the wall, placing himself between her and the blast.

"Trust me," was the last thing she heard before it went off.

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

The afternoon stretched into early evening without much commotion.

Cloud stayed in the bar until the night crowd began trickling in; drinking his beers slowly until he found he didn't have much elbow room to relax- not that he was actually relaxing. He paid his tab and left for the Underground, surprisingly sober despite the line of bottles he left behind.

(I don't think I could have gotten drunk if he'd given me a fifth. There's too much going on.)

Walking the short trek across the field to the ground door, he paused to look out over the plain that surrounded the seemingly isolated town.

(She's out there. Somewhere.)

Grumbling, he pulled the door back and descended.

The bunker was quiet for the most part. He thought he could distantly hear the sound of someone in the kitchen, which was nice- he was getting hungry.

(Maybe I could go over some of those research papers again while I'm waiting.)

He walked down the hall, slowing when he passed Aeris's room. In all his wallowing and worrying he'd forgotten she was the only other part of their team in Kalm now, and she wasn't in any better of a position than he was. If anything she was probably feeling _worse._

Which, from the sound of it, she was.

Lantern-light barely revealed her small figure lying on the bed as he peered in. She was facing the wall, trembling as she attempted to quiet her sobbing. Cloud approached, shutting the door behind him as he entered.

"Aeris?"  
>She paused, but didn't move. "Please go away, Cloud."<p>

He turned back for the door, knowing she just wanted some privacy for her tears. But before his hand could touch the knob another hiccup escaped her, and she struggled to keep it together.

Cloud looked at her- so fragile and broken in that moment- and remembered what Vincent had said. Aeris had fought _so_ hard to stay alive, to fulfill her part in saving the Planet. She'd lost her parents, her friends- people she'd _loved…_She spent much of her life in hiding, and never once complained about it- at least not to him. In the end, when the Planet led her to her death, she'd gone without so much as a word, taking her end better than many First Class SOLDIERS he'd fought with. She had been freed and reunited with her loved ones, and now…

Now she was back. Everything had changed, and she was struggling to find her place in this new war.

Another hitch in her crying moved Cloud away from the door.

She heard his footsteps behind her. "Cloud, please-."  
>"No," he answered firmly. "I won't leave."<p>

Still, she never moved. The ex-SOLDIER reached her bed and took his armor off, setting it on the dresser beside them before pulling the covers back and sliding in. She didn't protest, she just moved over as he laid next to her. He didn't hold her, didn't try to make her face him, he just…stayed beside her, staring at the ceiling as she stared at the wall. They remained that way for a while.

Aeris tried to focus futilely through her tears. Why was she here? Was this part of the plan? If she was supposed to be alive now, did that mean she didn't _have _to die all those years ago?

Cloud shifted slightly, and suddenly she began to remember what it felt like to lie next to Zack. The bed they shared in the church when they were younger hadn't been much bigger than the one she was in now, and the one they had in their Paradise was just as soft. She shut her eyes, trying to imagine his scent, the feel of his skin, the sound of his voice…

But it never came. She opened her eyes for a moment, taking in the reality around her, before shutting them tighter and turning to the man beside her. As she leaned onto his shoulder he wrapped an arm around her, sliding closer when she snuggled into him. The moment his skin touched hers she began crying again, and he knew in an instant she wasn't lying next to _him, _she was lying next to Zack.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, resting his chin on top of her head. "I'm so sorry."

She only tightened the fist she'd made in his shirt. Cloud held her until she cried herself to sleep, but even then she never seemed comfortable.  
>They didn't fit together. They never would. And now, he knew that.<p>

~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~...~~~

**A/N: Thank you to the following:  
>Reviews:<strong>

**CuptofTeaforAliceandHatter**: It's true. I enjoy using Reno as comedic relief in most situations.

**Winterwing3000: **I know! Even _writing _this story Cloud makes me want to scream sometimes. He just has this way of revisiting the demons of his past that I try to play on- he's not too much unlike Vincent in that way. Hope this update helps clear up the triangle a little bit- even though it was a good week and a half late! ;D

**Guest: **Ahhhh! Here is more. XD

**Matt-Robinette: **Of course, as am I! Just trying to keep things rounded out.

**Blackstar Angel: **You're right, he IS the Leader, but right now everyone's kind of ignoring him. XD I like to think it's because they technically got direct orders from Minerva as to what they have to do, so they're not waiting for him to work through all his inner issues to get stuff done.

**kitty materia princess: **Oh, just wait. ;)

**emiko** (for some reason this thing won't let me put your full UserName!): So glad you enjoy the story! I need to revamp the summary, I was looking at it the other day and realized it isn't a very good description of the story. Thanks for adding!

**New Faves/Follows:  
>MysteryNinja, emiko , Axelkin, samsami,<strong> and** Erin486**!


	28. Chapter 28: Dawn

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Dawn**

Midnight was fast approaching by the time Cid and Barret made it to Old Midgar.

The descent below the broken plates was easy and the path to Sector 5 was practically clear, giving them little to keep their minds occupied as they walked. Somewhere deep within the rubble of Sector 7 the bell tower let out three chimes that signaled 'fifteen 'til' as they passed. It was a weak, eerie sound, muffled by a few thousand or so tons of metal and concrete- a wonder the thing even worked at all.

Barret shivered as it echoed. Wedge's uncle had been the head of construction on that clock - finishing it about two months after his nephew joined AVALANCHE. It had been all the butterball of a man could talk about back then…

That was a long time ago. Long before the team had really started doing damage to ShinRa. Long before they had started inadvertently killing innocent people in their attempt to gain legitimacy as an activist cell. Long before the plate fell and destroyed Sector 7, and half the team with it.

The large man shivered again, this time shaking his head to toss out the memories. He wished it were that simple- to erase everything that happened with a simple shudder- but it wasn't. It never had been. It never would be.

"Could your burly ass walk _any_ slower?"

Cid's gruff, exhausted voice drew him out of his dark thoughts, and he forced a laugh.

"'Ey I'm tired too, man. It's hard to see in this mess."  
>"Didn't you used to live in this shithole? You should be able to walk it blindfolded!"<br>Barret chuckled again, this time genuinely, and trudged on. "It don' look anything like it used too, believe that."

Just as the decrepit tower began to strike twelve they emerged in the Sector 5 marketplace. It was still as empty as it had been the night they'd gone to get Cloud from the church. Off to the side Tifa's half-built bar sat, lonely, but they weren't stopping there. A bit further was the clearing leading to Elmyra and Aeris's old house- it was _there_ they would find Barret's hidden materia, and their beds for the night.

While the sanctuary miraculously remained intact, it hadn't escaped the wear of time completely unscathed. Flowers had overgrown much of the trail leading to the house, and a nice string of ivy had grown up and over most of the siding. The roof was covered by a thin blanket of moss, completing the picturesque scene of a home bedded in nature. If the two hadn't already known the house was there- and if it weren't for the semi-blatant front door and chimney- they might have mistaken it for a giant grassy knoll.

They entered with caution, weapons out and ready as they quickly and quietly cleared the place. Once they were certain they were alone Cid sat at the table for a smoke while Barret went to the utility closet and dug out a dusty box from the back. Setting it on the kitchen counter he popped the lid off and produced a bottle of bourbon, an extremely fancy-looking bottle of wine and two smaller boxes.

"Damn, Bear- you sure kept a stash, didn't ya?"

He smiled half-heartedly, moving the four items to the center of the table and sitting down across from the old pilot.

"Gotta have somethin' to do in this damn ghost town."

Cracking open the bourbon he took a sour pull straight from the bottle, barely flinching as the liquid burned a path down his throat. He passed it off to Cid, who examined the container for a moment.

"Rocket Town 20 year? Not bad." He took a drink, gritting his teeth bitterly for a moment as he set it back between them. "The hell were you savin' _this_ for?"

He shrugged. Cid snuffed his nose and looked to one of the smaller boxes.

"That it?"

Barret nodded, grabbing the box and flipping it open to reveal the shimmering black materia.

Cid leaned away from the orb, wrinkling his nose. "That looks a hell of a lot like the rock we pulled outta the Temple."  
>"I know," he replied, turning it to face him as he settled back in his chair and took another shot. "Never did like it that much, but I couldn't bring myself to just throw it out."<br>"Good thing."

He nodded again. The two drank on, passing the bottle back and forth all while staring nervously at the dark materia that separated them. When he was tired of thinking about what might happen when Barret picked it up, Cid looked over to the bottle of wine.

"We drinkin' this too?"  
>"Nah," Barret swiped it off the table, looking it over. "I'm takin' it back with us."<br>"Savin' it for another night like this?"  
>"Shiva, I hope not."<p>

Cid snorted, dragging another shot before lighting up another cigarette. The men fell into silent drinking again for a few more minutes.

Suddenly, Barret decided to reach out and pluck the materia right out of the box.

It sparked.

Barret never moved, but Cid knocked his chair over in his rush to leap up.

"_Shit_!" he yelled. Then, when nothing happened, "The _hell_ is wrong with you?"  
>"Just figured I'd get it over with," he replied calmly, looking over the orb. "No harm done."<br>"Goddamn idiot," the older man snipped, standing his chair upright and plopping back into it with a scowl. "For all you knew that thing coulda leveled the goddamn house."  
>"But it didn't. We're still here."<br>"I fuckin' _see_ that, thank you."

Barret smiled, taking another drink as he looked over the materia and then put it back in its container.

"How 'bout the other one?"  
>He raised his eyebrows at the question, glancing up at Cid and then following his gaze to the other box.<br>"Oh," he snatched it up. "This? It's nothin'."

Cid rolled his eyes but let it go, blowing a ring of smoke off to the side as he began griping about something to do with sleeping arrangements.

Barret wasn't listening. He was staring at the small box he held- still unopened- in his hand. After a moment he looked to the black materia on the table, suddenly realizing that the ominous orb was less scary to him than what he was holding. Reaching out he touched the materia again, sending a stiffness over Cid and silencing...well, whatever he was talking about.

"Why the hell do you keep testing that thing?" he said with a hint of worry in his voice. "It ain't messin' with your brain is it?"

Barret shook his head. "Nah, man, I just..." he trailed off, thinking for a few seconds. "When did you know you were ready to move it on with Shera?"

"...What?"

"When'd you know you were ready to ask her to marry you?"

"'Ask her to-' Barret, why the hell are you asking me this?"

"It's a simple question, Cid."

Cid gave a soft 'hmph' and crossed his arms, slouching. "Ain't nothin' simple about marriage," he muttered. Quickly seeing that wasn't a good enough answer he scratched his chin. "Truth is, you don't ever feel ready, not by a long shot. I knew...when I realized she was my best friend- she knows every goddamn thing about me and she still hangs around because she wants to. Even thinking about seeing her makes me happy...you can't buy that kind of thing."

"D'you get her a ring?"

"Not right away. By the time I realized I couldn't live without her, about the only thing I could afford to give her was my last name, but that seemed to suit her just fine."

Sighing, Barret set the small box on the table and popped it open.

"This is why I was saving the wine."

Turning it to Cid he revealed an engagement ring.

The pilot paused for a moment, then took a drink of the bourbon.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Barret snorted. "Jackass."

Cid let out a guffaw of a laugh, sitting upright to get a better look. "Shit, man, it _is_ nice! I guess this is why there was bourbon in the box, too?"

"Liquid courage."

"Damn straight." He grinned, "When you gonna ask her?"

More relaxed now, Barret shrugged, closing the box and tucking it into his pocket. "Just doesn't seem right, askin' her a question like that when I ain't even sure I'm gonna live til the end of the week."

"Barret, if you wait till there ain't someone trying to kill your ass or destroy the Planet, it's never gonna happen."

He seemed to mull over that for a moment. Seeing an opportunity to close out the night, Cid stood, rapping a hand on the table.

"Sleep on it. If you wanna do it, we'll go in the morning. If not, we'll head back to Kalm."

Barret would have argued that the idea of running off to propose marriage to Myra in Rocket Town when their team was waiting on them to return so they could go attempt to save the world seemed a bit unorthodox, but he was too tired. So he finished off the bourbon, gathered up the materia and wine, and went to bed.

* * *

><p>Yuffie hadn't spoken since they left Cosmo Canyon.<p>

An hour had passed since they boarded the plane for Wutai, following a short fifteen minute setup after having seen the news- the sight of a literal fire had lit a figurative one under their asses and spurred them back into the air. The moment her headset was on Yuffie had turned her earpieces off, and was content to sit in silence as long as she could help it.

Below, the landscape changed from canyon to desert to grass, but she saw none of it. Staring ahead, the ninja willed her eyes to see further than they were capable, envisioning Wutai just over the horizon. She pictured it calm and intact, with people wandering the streets and chatting away about the weather…or whatever normal people chatted about. She imagined landing in the plain nearby and being greeted by her father's housekeepers and listening to them fuss over how filthy her clothes were, nagging her about how improper it was for her hair to be so short.

Absently she raised a hand to touch the choppy ends of her brown lockes. It was almost long enough to pull into a ponytail. She would have to ask Tifa for a hairband when they got back.

(I wonder if Godo would even notice.)

She tensed at the thought of her Father, blinking away the vision of him lying bleeding in the dojo floor with Vecena looming overhead. It wasn't right- _she_ should have been the one squaring off with that monster, not him. He'd fought so hard to stay alive- she was _certain_ he made it out the first time, after he used Leviathan.

(And then she went back to finish the job. She must have known he survived.)

Her stomach was in knots- though she wasn't sure if it was from nerves or the plane ride.

(Probably both.)

Desperate to distract herself, she reached up and turned her headphones back on, hoping to latch on to whatever Red and the pilot were chatting away about.

"He's telling me we have to land, _now_."  
>"We're still two hours out."<br>"I'm aware of that, Elder, but Mr. Tuesti is insisting on our immediate descent."

It wasn't what she'd hoped for in terms of conversation, but it definitely grabbed her attention.

"What's going on?" she asked, adjusting the headgear and leaning forward to look between them. "We're landing?"  
>"Reeve has been sending warning messages to all of Cid's planes saying there's been some sort of security breech. Apparently ShinRa is aiming to attack."<br>"But it's the middle of the night-."

"Warship signatures have already been detected outside of Midgar," the pilot said urgently. "He doesn't think they'll attack anything on the ground- they've just been sending out beacons to detect other bodies in the air and read their signatures of origin. If they find a smaller plane, it wouldn't take much to get it out of the sky, if that's what they want."

Yuffie was more than a little pissed, but there wasn't anything she could do. She wasn't any good to Wutai dead.

"Where are we landing?"  
>"Rocket Town."<p>

"Good," she looked at Red. "I can take my chocobo from there."  
>"I'm going with you," he replied, and the look in his eye told her it was useless to argue.<p>

Talk after that moment was sparse, and even when they landed, the trio didn't spare much time on goodbyes. Red only left the pilot with simple instructions to let Reeve know they were on the ground, and that they were riding by bird to the village.

"Are you going to stop in to say hello to anyone?" the young man asked as he helped them carry their gear to the barn and get Yuffie's chocobo ready.

"It's midnight, I think they'll understand if we don't stop in," Nanaki helped Yuffie mount the gold bird before hopping up behind her. "Just be certain Reeve or Cloud get that message as soon as possible."

The pilot gave his word, and the two started out toward the plain outside the town. As they neared the dark edges facing away, Yuffie took a moment to worry.

"Maybe I should call Vincent."

It was the first time she would admit, out loud, to anyone that she thought about the gunslinger separately from the rest of the group. Nanaki seemed unfazed.

"I have the feeling he is no longer in Kalm."

Despite the situation she smiled slightly, then spurred her chocobo into a full run for the coastline that lay a good distance away.

* * *

><p>Aeris had finally fallen asleep.<p>

Cloud wasn't sure how long he'd held her, but it was long enough for him to think too much about what was going on. The war, the materia, Tifa…

About the time he realized his brain was beginning to feel like it was on fire he also noticed the Ancient had stopped shaking against him. The Planet had finally lulled her to sleep through her own nightmarish train of thought. He could bet it wouldn't last long, but at least _someone_ was getting some shuteye.

Extracting himself from the bed with great care, Cloud then made a quiet beeline for the door- grabbing his gear off the mirroring bed as he went- hoping to catch what sounded like Reeve passing down the hall.

"The signature hasn't been out for long, but the sooner we get everyone grounded, the better."  
>"But the ship Reno has-."<br>"He'll have to find a way off, and I'm sure he will."

"Sure he will what?"

Cloud emerged behind what turned out to be Reeve and Tseng in the hallway. The pair froze in their path, turning to look at the younger man. Their already stiff expressions seemed to harden even further.

He became uneasy. "What's happened?"

Throwing a cautious glance to his counterpart, Reeve stepped forward and began explaining the situation. Cloud listened intensely to the synopsis- Reeve's jacket bug, the warship out of Midgar, and the most recent development of radio silence with Reno's stealth prototype.

"They're in danger then."  
>"They were in danger the moment they left Kalm."<br>Cloud shook his head. "I can't stay here."

He pushed past them, intent on getting Ultima Weapon out of his room and setting off for Old Mideel.

Reeve nearly choked. "Cloud, you can't-."  
>"I am."<br>Tseng was a bit more level-headed. "And what will you do when you reach the place? You'll be on the ground. There's no way you'll beat Rufus's ship if he already knows she's there. He'll have taken her and left long before you're off this continent."

Angry, the blonde spun to face him. "You're in a ship, right? _You_ can take me."  
>"And jeopardize the lives of my crew? Not likely."<br>"Do you _want_ her to die? Who the hell's side are you on?"

Tseng only stared. Reeve swallowed hard, stepping between them.

"Cloud, he means if _you_ go. If you go, it will jeopardize his ship."

Cloud narrowed his eyes, looking between them. "You can't honestly expect me to stay in Kalm knowing she's in trouble."

"You may not like it," Tseng picked up carefully, "but if she's to live, it's what has to happen."

He knew that the leader of the Turks was referencing Aeris's paranormal instruction. Even still, it was hard to listen.

"What then? The two of you will go?"  
>"I can't," Reeve replied. "I have work to do here."<br>"So I'm just supposed to trust _him_? I'm sorry, Reeve, but how do we know _he_ wasn't the one who planted that bug on you in the first place?"

Tseng didn't seem insulted, but Reeve was quick to defend him.

"He would do no such thing. Cloud, I know it's a lot to ask-."  
>"You're damn right it is."<br>"You'll have to have faith in _me_. Okay? If not him, then put your trust in me."

A chill swept through the corridor as the ambassador and ex-SOLDIER stared at each other. Around them the lights began to wax and wane. Tseng looked up.

"The warship."

A few seconds of tension drew out the moment, then the lights flickered again. The men paused their discussion and made their way above ground, stepping into the nearby field to watch as the Behemoth Warship slowly coasted over the village of Kalm.

"Will it attack?" Cloud asked.  
>"No," Reeve replied, quite sure of himself. "Rufus wouldn't risk blowing up this place, not if there's a chance the materia is here."<br>"Then why doesn't he stop? Why not stage a raid?"

He didn't answer, but he didn't have to. Behemoth continued on its steady, faster-than-it-appeared path south.

"Mideel," Tseng muttered.  
>"Tifa."<br>The Turk looked at him. "I'll be on my way then."

He went to leave, and was met by one set of very bright, very wide green eyes.

It was a wrenching sight for the Turk, whom- despite years of perfecting a stone exterior- momentarily became putty in front of Aeris Gainsborough. The Ancient only continued to stare at him, and he barely heard her when she informed him she would be accompanying him to Mideel.

Of course, that didn't matter, because Cloud told her 'no' straight away.

"Why would you want to go there when you know what's about to happen?"  
>"I care about her too, Cloud."<br>"Aeris, you can't-."  
>"But I can." Her sharp glare shifted to him, and he stopped his bickering. "If the Planet tells me something else- something that might help her- I don't want to be here when it happens."<p>

He didn't argue. Then again, arguing with Aeris had always been something he was particularly bad at. She left some ten minutes later with Tseng, and Reeve could only offer a pat on the shoulder as they watched the stealth airship shimmer and disappear into the barely dawning sky.

* * *

><p>"Hey."<p>

~  
><em>"Reno, I don't know-."<br>"No, I know. We don't have to do this."_

_He said it, but they didn't move. The next thing they knew they were kissing again; Tifa slid her arms behind his neck and he wrapped his around her waist. Becoming more fervent, they fell back onto the desk.  
>~<em>

"Tifa, wake up."

_~  
>"Reno…" Abandoning her apprehension, she focused on what was happening to her body. "Please."<br>"Anything," he breathed into her skin. "Whatever you want."  
>~<em>

"Tifa!"

Tifa sucked in a violent breath as her eyes snapped open. She was lying on her side, the surface beneath her was dry, cracked ground, and her head was pounding.

Pressing a palm to her forehead she pushed up, squinting against the dim light of sunrise to look around. She couldn't be certain, but she was fairly positive they were on the Southern continent- nowhere else on Gaia were there deserts-bordering-marshland. Not far away stood a thin line of trees, and she thought she could hear the sea beyond that. They must have just barely made it.

'They' being her and Reno. The redhead sat on a grassy patch some ten feet away, propped haphazardly against a tree as he nursed what had to be a compound fracture underneath his left arm sleeve.

"Oh good, you're alive."  
>"Where are we?"<br>"The Southern Plains. About five miles north of where we need to be."

She blinked slowly, wincing as she strained to look at him.

"You're hurt."  
>"It looks worse than it is. Pretty minor considering we jumped out of an airship."<p>

The airship. Tifa groaned as the memory came back to her, escalating the pounding in her brain.

Pushing to stand, she buckled back to her knees under the weight of the parachute that was still strapped to her. It hadn't been deployed. She began pulling it off, casting a confused glance to Reno.

"My parachute..."  
>"You got knocked out by the blast," he reached beside him, pulling up a handful of silk fabric. "We used mine."<p>

He'd saved her life. As if the situation wasn't already hard enough to stomach.

Dropping her pack to the ground she stood again, this time making it to the Turk's side before falling back to her knees. Carefully she reached for his wounded arm, gingerly he offered it. After a minute of gentle prodding and several strings of curses they managed to get his jacket off. Just as she thought, the bone was barely visible through the skin.

"A hi-potion won't work on this."  
>"I don't have anything stronger."<p>

She reached into her side pockets, hoping to find an elixir or something of the like, but felt nothing.

"No luck?"  
>She shook her head. "We'll just have to set it for now. The hi-potion should be enough to lightly seal it and keep it from getting infected."<br>He popped his eyebrows. "A barmaid _and_ a nurse? That's hot."

His antics were short-lived, cut off by a howl as she made the decision without him to crack his bones back into place. Fashioning a splint out of some tree bark and strips of his jacket lining (much to his dismay), it wasn't long before his arm looked at least 80% better.

"How does it feel?"  
>"Like you just shoved two broken bones back through my skin." Despite the pain, he stood up. "Ready?"<p>

He offered her his good hand. She didn't take it.

"Shouldn't you rest a minute?"  
>Shrugging off her rejection, he looked toward the trees blocking the water. "No can-do, babe. You hear that?"<p>

She stood, looking around. "Sounds like thunder." She paused. "There aren't any clouds…"  
>"It's a warship," he concluded. "By the sound of it, it's the big motherfucker Rufus had docked outside of Edge. It's a good while off, but it won't stay that way for long."<p>

Tifa's heart crawled into her throat, but she said nothing. Reno threw his jacket over his shoulder and started jogging south.

"Let's move!"

* * *

><p>Despair.<p>

All that was left of Wutai. Destruction and despair.

Vincent stood on a hill overlooking the valley that held the village, now barely more than a pile of smoldering buildings and ash. A few crowds speckled the streets- most of them camera crews, from what he could tell. It was hard to see if there were any natives walking among the debris, if any had even survived.

Dawn was just approaching over the mountains, and Vincent was quiet in its presence. It hadn't been long since he arrived, but already he felt the calm setting in knowing Yuffie was nearby. Not to be insensitive to Wutai's plight, but at the moment there were bigger problems to face.

He would see her soon, he knew that. He just didn't know what he was going to say, if he said anything at all.

It had been so long since he cared what anyone thought- what anyone _felt_- about him, he couldn't help but feel out of place. It was like going back to a town he hadn't been to in years and trying to remember how to get around- he felt like a stranger.

Suddenly, he felt a familiar presence approaching.

"Have you gone into the village yet?"  
>"Yes," Nanaki replied, emerging from the hidden path behind him to stand beside him. "We arrived nearly two hours ago."<br>"Any survivors?"  
>"None that we've seen. Yuffie seems to be unconcerned. I think she knows something."<p>

He smiled slightly. Of course she did.

"You were fast getting here."  
>"You were faster," the beast cast him a glance. "Only two hours behind us, coming from Kalm by bird." He looked around. "Where <em>is<em> Shalva?"  
>"I let her loose in one of the fields next to the valley. She won't wander far."<p>

Nanaki hummed. A few seconds passed before Vincent cleared his throat.

"I suppose you know then."  
>"I've <em>known<em>," he replied calmly. "Probably before even you did. Yesterday morning only confirmed my suspicion. You people seem to forget I can hear through thick concrete- a wooden door is nothing to me. Besides…I could smell you from down the hallway."

Vincent couldn't help but chuckle. "That must be a burden."  
>"There are worse things."<br>A pause, and he looked down at him. "Do you judge me?"  
>Caught off-guard, Nanaki snorted. "No," then, after a moment, "I was once told the only way my species is to continue is if the Planet provides me a mate. She will come from the soil, and she will be raised by nature. If this is true, how could I judge you? For all I know, the one I am meant for may not have even been born yet."<p>

He trailed off, and the two continued to watch the village quietly until finally, Nanaki shook his mane.

"Find her. She shouldn't be alone."

Vincent left the hill, entering the village without a word. Memories of his last visit flashed in his mind, but he shrugged them away.

The Pagoda was where most of the camera crews were set up; the building was the only one that still stood whole, though the outside of it was just as charred as the rest of town. No one went inside, and Vincent could only assume it was structurally unsafe.

But that wasn't where he was going. Because he knew that wasn't where she was.

The bar, right in the middle of town. Most of the roof had gone up in the flames, leaving the interior bright with the rising sun. Much of small front room was ash, but the bar still stood prominent in the back center, and the booths lining the walls remainedl in functional shape, though they were covered in soot.

Vincent walked to the corner, hardly minding the black that smeared his clothes as he slid into a seat. He waited.

A few minutes passed, then he felt the gentle touch of Yuffie's body leaning against his leg. Silently he reached down and took her hand as she offered it to him, then held it while she rested her head on his knee and sighed softly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Just in case you didn't know, the flashback Tifa has is from Tired. She and Reno hooked up, in case you haven't read it- that's pretty much it!

**Thank you to the following:**

**Reviews:**

**-CupofTeaforAliceandHatter: **I'll admit, I laughed at myself the entire time I wrote the Yuffie/Nanaki scene. I'm glad you liked it, too! I also wanted to make a point with the Aeris/Cloud exchange. It's easy to forget she's not some all-knowing being. She just happens to get the news a little before everyone else, and sometimes that can be hard to handle (especially when you're supposed to be dead)! :D

**-Guest: **Thanks! Thanks for reviewing.

**-Blackstar Angel: **Thank you so much for the review. I really try to put some time into the characters to keep them in line with the game.

**-Winterwing 3000: **You're too sweet. :D Thank you for leaving such well-rounded comments, I really do appreciate it! Oh, and I definitely agree, I've always thought Cloud was a little slow to notice things going on around him, hehe.

-**GirlEnigma: **I love Cid too! :D Thanks for reading.

**-kitty materia princess: **Don't panic! More feels are on the way. :D

**New Fave/Follows:  
><strong>**  
>XFateXFellXShortX, ScaledWolf, stainedwithlove, <strong>and **AmmyChey3X**!


	29. Chapter 29: Walls

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Walls**

Time seemed to slow when bad things happened.

Scientifically she couldn't prove that- then again, Yuffie couldn't do much of anything involving science. But she did have more than enough experience with tragedy, and every time the ugly beast reared its head it felt as though someone cast Slow on the entire Planet.

"Time is relative," Vincent's voice was level, as usual.

"Whatever that means." She settled into the charred seat across from him with a sigh and slid a small glass of warm sake into his open hand. It was almost too hot, but that wasn't her fault. The fire had heated the liquor rack behind the bar, leaving sake the obvious choice to drink, since she usually took it warm anyway.

"It means time is perceived differently by everyone. What may seem slow to you might be fast to others, or visa versa."

She understood, but she didn't care. "Right."

Detecting her disinterest, he followed her gaze to the tabletop between them.

"Have you been to the Pagoda yet?"  
>"Too many cameras," she replied with a slight head-shake. "I'll go in a bit."<br>"I'm certain Rufus already knows you're here, if that's what you're worried about."  
>"Maybe not. He seems a little preoccupied with airships and non-ShinRa related planes, for some reason."<p>

He hadn't thought about that. She'd told him about Reeve's landing orders. As far as he knew, they hadn't heard anything else.

Yuffie shrugged. "That isn't what I'm worried about anyway."

He continued to watch her. She may not have wanted to talk, but Vincent knew feigned indifference when he saw it. And while the little, non-Chaos voice in his head told him to let her be, curiosity got the best of him.

"Something's happened."

"Maybe," she replied without missing a beat. "It's too soon to tell and I don't really want to talk about it just yet...It would probably jinx us."

The last bit was said into her mug as she took another drink. He raised an eyebrow, but didn't have a chance to ask what she meant before the sound of claws on the wooden floor had them both looking at Nanaki as he entered the bar.

"I see you found her."

Vincent nodded.

"I just thought you should know, the local emergency radio has stopped working."

"No relation to the fire?"

"It was working when we got here," Yuffie murmured, suspicious. "Someone must have done something to it, that thing hasn't needed repairs in twenty years."

"There may be another attack coming."

"Perhaps," Nanaki sat on the floor beside them. "If either of you have a PHS I suggest calling the others; we may soon need help."

Yuffie pulled out her phone, face souring. "No service."

Vincent did the same, then shook his head. "'Out of range'."

"Something's blocking the signal?"

"It's possible," the Elder replied. "If that is the case, we should hurry to do what we came for." He eyed Vincent. "If you accompany her to the Pagoda, I will go attempt to re-establish the radio connection."

Vincent nodded agreement, and all three of them stood and left the bar.

* * *

><p>It was nothing short of a miracle that Elmyra's house was still standing.<p>

Barret couldn't help but admire this as he stood in the hallway outside her room. He'd slept there the night before- if you'd actually call it sleep. It was more of a light doze, seemingly endless through the onslaught of feverish dreams he could only assume were brought on by his newly acquired materia. They'd consisted mostly of death and despair, and he'd awoke several times in near Limit Break mode, fit to destroy the walls around him. Needless to say he wasn't in the brightest of spirits when his PHS alarm told him it was time to get up.

(Don't see how it matters,) he thought as he silenced the loud ring. (It's sure as shit better than what I'm dreamin' about.)

Down the hall, the heavy shuffling of feet caught his attention. Cid was up.

Cruising to the closed door, he gave it a soft rap- more out of habit than for reverence of the quiet morning.

"'Ey."

Grumbling, a few curse words, and the door opened. The pilot stood, shouldering his rucksack with one hand and gripping a pink dress with the other.

Barret cocked an eyebrow. "Find somethin' in yer size?"  
>"<em>Sh<em>_-it,_" he snorted. "It's for Aeris, you git."

Of course, why hadn't _he_ thought of that? Aeris had been wearing spare clothes since she'd been resurrected (as strange as that was to say)- her old ones were riddled with holes, including the one that had killed her. A dress she could actually recognize would probably earn unlimited brownie points.

Seeing his curious eye, Cid grunted. "Fine." He shoved the fabric into Barret's arms. "Don't say I never gave you nothin'."  
>"You shouldn't have."<br>"I know."

Conversation was sparse as they left the house. They didn't waste time with breakfast, seeing as there was nothing in the kitchen more appealing than what they had to eat on the plane. The garden outside only contained plants of the flower variety, and Barret paused to admire them as they went to leave that area of the slums.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Cid moaned.  
>"I am," Barret replied remorsefully. It was a pain, never knowing what your future held- not that anyone ever truly did, but most people at least got to indulge in the <em>illusion<em> of certainty- he could barely make plans for his life more than a few hours in advance.

At least, that's how it felt.

"We goin' to Rocket Town?"

Speaking of which. Barret smiled slightly.

"Yeah."

A bright spot in the dark world. He was going to propose to Elmyra.

It didn't take long for them to reach the broken city wall; from there the plane was only a few minute's walk. However, before they could make the turn to where they knew their ride was, they were greeted by their pilot.

"Davies?"  
>"Sir," he saluted his Captain, who nodded. "I've been trying to reach you most of the morning."<br>"It's nearly six," he grumbled, pulling out his PHS. "And I don't have service..."  
>"Approximately two hours ago Reeve ordered all planes down on grounds of a ShinRa warship leaving Edge with undeclared intent."<br>"A _warship_?"

"We musta missed it under the plate," Barret tagged in, looking at his phone. "Mine's out, too."  
>"You radio Kalm yet?"<br>"I've tried," Davies replied. "The lines have been scrambled for some time now."

"Well, shit." Perturbed, the older man pulled out a cigarette.  
>Barret followed suit, and Davies was quick to hand them a lighter. "Think the others are OK?"<br>"Only way to know is if we go back."

His heart sank, but he stomached it- this was important.

"Guess Rocket Town'll have to wait."  
>Cid motioned to Davies. "Go find a place to park out of the open. We're gonna be takin' birds back to Kalm."<br>"Yes, sir."

When he was out of sight, Cid shook his head. "Can't imagine what they're up to, scrambling the lines."  
>Barret was still trying not to be sour about Rocket Town. "Yeah."<br>Cid elbowed him affectionately. "'Ey, don't worry about Mrya. At least you know the danger's not where she is."  
>"Right."<p>

They smoked quietly for a minute or two, before Cid finished his light and tossed it down.

"Besides, if we go to Kalm first you can ask Aeris about it. She's around now, you know, maybe she could be there when it happens."

Barret hadn't thought of that. It wasn't a bad idea.

"You sure are one thoughtful motherfucker this morning, you know that?"  
>"The hell you talking about? I'm a thoughtful motherfucker all the time!"<p>

By the time they were both done with their second cigarette Davies had returned, and the trio headed for the nearby chocobo stables.

* * *

><p>"I just don't understand why it won't respond."<p>

Cloud sat wrong-ways in a chair, arms draped over the back of it, watching as Reeve puzzled over his barely reconstructed Cait Sith. He hadn't been at it for long - not long enough for something to have happened, anyway, in Cloud's opinion- and already he was stuck.

"Maybe it's done."

Reeve looked at him. "'Done'?"

"You know, 'finished,' 'retired,' 'fried out'."

"Hardly," he snorted. "Do you have any idea how much power it would take to fry a motherboard like this?" Holding up the shiny green plate, he sighed. "Then again, it did sit underground for days..."

"After a flood."

"You're not helping."

Cloud smirked, then tried to be helpful. "Could something have gotten stuck inside the plate?"

Reeve glanced at him, then looked back to the board in his hand. By the expression on his face Cloud could guess he hadn't thought of that, but he was quick to mask it.

"That was just what I was going to check next."

"Right."

A scowl, and he set about taking apart the motherboard. It was a careful process, and Cloud had a mind to leave after about five minutes, when finally Reeve let out a victorious yelp as it popped apart.

But his happiness was short lived.

"What in Ifrit's name...?"

Curious, Cloud rose from his seat to stand beside the man.

"What?"

"The connections, they're- they're all wrong." Frantically he began trying to correct the error. "They're melted in place, too!"

"Damage from the attack?"

"Impossible. These wires would have had to be manually changed, but by whom? No one but myself has ever controlled the Tech, unless they did it after he went down, but why would they do that?"

"Maybe Tseng-."

"Tseng doesn't know anything about computers," he nearly scoffed. "You should see him try to change the battery in his PHS. It's a circus."

Reeve fiddled with the mess a few seconds more before sputtering with frustration, tossing the board to the table.

"Ruined," he grumbled. "Completely ruined."

In all of the time he'd know Reeve, Cloud couldn't remember ever seeing him this cross.

"Can I help?" he sat back down, now closest to the discarded motherboard.

"How? The thing's been inexplicably welded. Even if I had my original blueprints with me, getting the wires back in the right order would take more time than we have."

"Well, how valuable was the information on this thing?"

He shrugged. "Hard to say. I had seen most of the information before Costa del Sol, but anything that happened during the flood is still up for review."

"And what exactly do you pull from the stuff he sees?"

"Mostly clerical data. Cait Sith could trace emotional patterns and analyze physical appearances. With his information it made it easier to predict what those around him were plotting or whether or not they'd done something."

"That seems useful."

"Especially with Turks."

"So what now?"

A thoughtful pause, and Reeve chuckled. "I suppose this means you are all stuck with me."

Cloud smiled, looking back to the green plate in front of him. He noticed the curved indentation in the center.

"Did you put that mark in it?"

"It's for the materia," he replied, reaching into his jacket to retrieve the orb. "I might have thought it were the cause for the wires melting if they hadn't all been rearranged."

Absently he reached out and took the board back, popping his materia into the carefully crafted space.

It began to hum.

Both men stood in haste, Cloud's hand instinctively finding the hilt of Ultima Weapon while Reeve threw the tech back to the table and stared, wide-eyed, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did. Not right away, anyway. After what felt like an eternity of tense pause, Cloud reached up with his free hand and pulled the blue Ancient Materia from his armor. It was already humming, but the moment he exposed it to the motherboard it began to glow.

"Cloud," Reeve said carefully. "This doesn't seem wise."

He didn't listen. He gently placed his materia on the board beside Reeve's. The latter began to glow as well, and seconds later a bright light filled the room.

Everything around them turned to white.

"Cloud?"

"It's OK," he held up his hand, motioning for Reeve to stay still. "Just wait."

There was no way the younger man could have known what was about to happen. He didn't have didn't have any more information about the materia than Reeve did, but he did have a bit of experience with the ancient relics, and something told him they were about to see something important.

Between them, where the table had just been, Zack Fair appeared.

Neither man said a word as the late SOLDIER looked between them, concern evident on his handsome face.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"With Tseng," Reeve replied, knowing he was talking about Aeris. "The Planet warned her about Tifa."

"So naturally, Tseng showed up."

"He's taking her to Mideel," Cloud explained, ignoring his sarcasm. "How do you not know, don't you see everything?"

"I'm not a god," he held up his hands. "Or an Ancient. I only have access to what Minerva shows me."

"Why are you here?"

"You sure know how to sweet talk a guy, Strife."

"Zack," Reeve cut in. "Tifa is in danger. Rufus grounded all our planes and cut all communication between the group."

"Then you guys should stop splitting up."

"Why are you here?" Cloud asked again, losing patience.

Zack turned to him. "Do you think I plan these little meetings? I'm supposed to be dead. Why I have to keep dealing with the living, I'll never know."

"Aeris is 'living,'" Reeve muttered.

"Yes, thank Rufus for me, would you?"

They all fell silent. Zack sighed.

"Mideel is a trap."

Cloud didn't do or say anything, but Zack could see the poorly masked panic in his eyes.

"Aeris was right, if you were there it would be much worse-."

"Why did she have to go at all-?"

"The materia. It's still there. They were just waiting for someone to go after it and show them exactly where it is."

"...Reno."

"He doesn't know, but he'll be the only thing between Tifa and Vecena," he looked to Reeve. "You should send someone after them."

"Tseng and Aeris-."

"Not fast enough. Send Elena."

Cloud was lost. "Elena?"

"Long story," they replied in unison. Reeve furrowed his brow at Zack. Zack didn't respond.

Cloud pressed on. "So what do we do?"

"Wait." Zack turned back to him. "Don't go to Mideel, even when they tell you to."

"'They'? 'They' who?"

Suddenly, the sound of a rising wind picked up around them.

"Everyone will meet here. I wasn't joking about staying together-stop separating!"

A large gust blew through, knocking the two living men to their knees.

"Cloud."

Cloud looked up at Zack, who seemed unaffected by the elements.

"Tifa will need you once she's out of there. Don't waste time."

He nodded.

Reeve held up his arm, squinting to see. "Zack! How am I supposed to contact Elena without a radio?"

He turned to Reeve, smiling slightly.

"Open your eyes."

In an instant, the whiteness was restored by a landscape. The plain outside the Underground, to be exact. The table between them was gone, and both men held their respective Ancient materia. They struggled to their feet as the wind from a nearby helicopter blew down on them. It was landing.

While the propeller was still hot the door opened, revealing one blonde ex-Turk. She approached Reeve, removing her sunglasses coolly.

"Let me guess, 'We don't have much time.'"

* * *

><p>Tifa couldn't run any further.<p>

"Reno, slow down." She wasn't gasping, but she was exhausted. Five miles was a decent stretch in itself and while she was in impeccable shape, they _were_ trying to outrun a warship.

Not to mention the whole skydiving ordeal. Her body could only take so much.

Reno slowed, turning to face her but continuing to walk backwards.

"You runnin' outta steam?"  
>"Aren't you?"<br>"I could go a little longer," he shrugged. "But we've made good time. We can take it easy for a bit."

He paused to check his splint, letting her pass in front of him.

"It can't be much farther," she hoped aloud.  
>"About another mile."<br>She would have sighed relief if her lungs weren't on fire. That and the thunderous sound of the airship was getting louder by the minute.

"Think we'll make it before them?"  
>"Probably not, but it'll take them a while to get anchored. Plenty of time for us to sneak in, grab the materia and get gone before they start searching."<p>

She resisted the urge to groan. Just thinking about being near Rufus or Vecena made her nerves stand on end.

The ground beneath them sloped downward as they entered the thicket surrounding the dried mako pool where the building sat. Silence swallowed them, and it was several minutes before Tifa became suspicious of the man behind her.

Glancing back, she wrinkled her nose.

"Are you _kidding _me?"

Reno raised his eyebrows, flask paused mid-sip at his lips. She wasn't sure she wanted to know where he'd been hiding it.

"What?"  
>"This is no time for that!"<br>"Oh yeah?" he crowed. "We're on a condemned island racing against some witch to find a rock that apparently has insane power reaching into the depths of the Lifestream. Sounds like the perfect time to me."

Tifa rolled her eyes, turning back to the path. "How's your arm?"  
>"Better."<br>"You sure you're OK?"  
>"Well- I'm breathin', I've got a drink, and I'm takin' a walk right behind your sweet, sweet ass."<p>

She shot him a dirty look. He grinned.

"I'm great."

They forged ahead to the end of the thicket. Tifa shifted to let Reno beside her, and together they pushed back the brush to reveal a steep, wooded slope. Beyond that, the rather dilapidated roof of their destination was visible.

Taking one last long swig from his flask, Reno wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve.

"Been a while since I've seen this sight. Doesn't look much different. Can't say that I've missed it."

The ground rattled beneath them, and suddenly the warship was overhead. They looked up at the thing's massive steel belly. The Turk gulped.

Tifa reached over and took Reno's flask, downing what little was left in the tin before handing it back. He tucked it into his pocket and caught her expecting stare.

"Sorry babe, that's the last of it."  
>"Let's get this over with."<p>

He held the brush back and she slid down first, quickly leading the way to the abandoned plant.

* * *

><p>The strange thing about being on an airship in stealth mode, Aeris found, was that after takeoff everything but the windows darkened.<p>

She stood in the ship's conference room, alone, leaning against the large oak table in the center, watching the glowing landscape pass by with slight intrigue.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Tseng strolled in to stand a few feet beside her. She wondered how long he'd been in the doorway.

"I can't hear the engine."  
>"A technology that took years to perfect." He waited for a response. None came. "...You're not impressed."<br>"I am," she halfheartedly attempted to reassure him. "There are just...other things on my mind."

Folding his hands behind him he faced the windows with her.

"You look well."  
>"Being alive generally looks better than being dead."<p>

A pause. She'd surprised him.

"I suppose much has changed since you were last here."

"Much has changed in the last few days," she retorted, looking at him finally. "I hear you've been quite the conundrum lately- playing both sides, irritating Cloud-."

"I do what's in the best interest of the Planet; that's all I've ever done." He turned away from her. "Whatever channel I have to go through to do that doesn't matter to me."

"I don't believe you," she shook her head. "And I'm sure Reeve doesn't either."

He only hummed.

She stared at him. Even from the side she could tell his face had drastically changed since the last time she'd seen him.

Then again, he'd almost died a couple of times since the last time she'd seen him.

"Do you miss it? The Lifestream?"

The question wasn't shocking, but she couldn't help herself.

"I miss Zack."

She had already turned her head back to the window, but she still saw him tense out of the corner of her eye.

"This must be difficult for you."  
>"It is. Then again, I'm somewhat used to missing him."<p>

Instantly she scolded herself. What was she doing? Tseng didn't deserve her torture. Especially when she knew how he felt about her.

"Will you stay then, after this is done?"

Surely he wasn't suggesting she would kill herself.

"I'll be here as long as the Planet allows."

Again, he hummed. He sounded pleased.

"Then it goes without saying- I am here."

The tension mounted. Good grief, if it hadn't been for their history Aeris would have rolled her eyes.

But they did have a history. Oh, did they ever have a history.

"What's the plan for after we've landed?" she shifted the subject in spite of her pounding heart.  
>"We'll attempt to find Tifa and Reno before Rufus and Vecena do."<br>"And if we don't?"  
>"Then we'll collect the bodies," his voice dropped coldly. "And we'll prepare for war."<br>"You seem certain."  
>"I have seen firsthand the chaos that...<em>Thing<em> is capable of. There will be no mercy. There will be no running. Only death."

But her mind had stopped at the thought of Tifa being dead- her body under a sheet; Cloud standing solemnly beside her...

She shook the scene out of her mind, tears rolling down her face.

"Tell them to hurry."

Tseng resisted the urge to comfort her. Aeris may have been upset, but what she wasn't was vulnerable.

"Of course."

He left the way he came- quietly.

* * *

><p>There was still a crowd outside the Pagoda.<p>

"Do you want to go through them or wait?" Vincent asked.  
>"Neither. There's a staircase around back. Follow me."<p>

Yuffie led the long way around the square, disappearing between a couple of torched houses to find the small path  
>behind them. It led straight to the patio on the backside of the Tower. No one else was there.<p>

"The big story is up front," she said, stepping onto the concrete and hopping up to grab the fire escape ladder. She missed. "At least, that's what we'll let them think."

A few more hops, a few more misses. Vincent reached up and gripped the bottom rung, pulling it down.

Yuffie scowled. "I had it, you know."

"I know."

Sarcasm. Even though his voice was flat, she'd gotten to the point that she could read him even in his monotony. A little piece of her wondered if anyone else could do the same.

They made their way up the back of the building, careful to maneuver around the pieces of wall and roof that hung haphazardly over the stairway. The higher they went, the more debris they encountered.

"There may be too much damage to go inside," he pointed out as they neared the top entrance.

She was unfazed. "Then you can stay on the stairs."

The door was locked. Without a second thought the ninja jumped up to grab a metal support beam above her then swung hard, slamming her feet into the frame. It toppled inward with a bang.

"That wasn't very discreet."

"It'll only take a minute," she dropped down and gingerly stepped inside.

He wanted to follow, but it was obvious the integrity of the floor was poor. The boards around where the door had hit were cracked, and much of the rest of the room was charred. Yuffie was light enough that she had a chance of making it through unscathed.

"Follow the blood," she murmured, disappearing around the corner.

Vincent waited. Ironically the most comforting sound was that of the floorboards squeaking beneath her feet. Only when the sound progressed from a squeak to a crack did he tense.

"Have you found anything?"  
>"Yes." She sounded preoccupied. Moments later a board snapped.<p>

"I fucking knew it!" she hissed.

Another loud pop, but this time Vincent knew it wasn't her fault- because she swore a few more times and started running.

He leaned in the doorway just as a hole opened in the floor. The thought to shout for her crossed his mind, but she was already flying toward him. She had jumped, and he had barely enough time to realize he needed to catch her when she crashed into him. They tumbled through the doorway, spinning wildly until they hit the fire escape railing.

It snapped. They went down.

Vincent caught the platform with one hand and Yuffie with the other. She didn't scream, just gave choked gasp when her descent was jerked to a halt.

"Hurry," he grunted.

"Let go of my arm, I'll climb you."

It wasn't until then that he realized he'd caught her with his metal hand. She didn't say anything, shaking it off as he released her to grab his legs. Seconds later she was at his face, reaching up to grab the platform beside him.

"Never a dull moment, eh Vinnie?"

They reconvened on the fire escape, her sitting with her knees drawn up while he crouched beside her. Below, a small collection of reporters had started to form.

"So much for staying off camera."  
>"What did you find?"<br>"Oh," she started, looking into her lap. "It's some relic. I need a key to open it."  
>"You sounded like you knew what it was."<br>"Huh?"  
>"When you found it. Didn't you say-?"<p>

"Oh, that." Digging into her pocket she retrieved a note. Scribbled across in bloody handwriting were the words "Leviathan's Seal."

"My father- my village- didn't get axed. They're in hiding. Leviathan's Seal is a bunker in the mountains on the northern part of this continent."

She stood. He followed.

"How long will it take to get there from here?"  
>"It won't. We're not going after them."<p>

He didn't ask, but she paused at the top of the steps to look at him sharply and explain.

"Going to Godo would only mean leading Vecena to their doorstep. I can't do that."  
>"Of course."<p>

A curt nod and she started down. Vincent shook his head.

"That was the theory you had, wasn't it?"

"Yup," she tucked the note away as she went. "Only because there just isn't enough blood around to warrant a full-on massacre...and maybe because of the thing my Mom showed me."

The last part of her deduction was said with irritated contempt. Vincent smiled.

"I suppose your mother knew best after all, then."  
>"I will push you right off this fire escape."<p>

They evaded questions at the bottom of the stairwell, weaving their way back to the building where they knew Red would be working on the radio.

When they walked in they weren't surprised to find the beast sitting calmly in the floor, staring at the broken device.

"No luck?" Yuffie mused.  
>"The damage isn't internal. The airwaves themselves have been disabled."<br>"That sounds...hard."

"It is," Vincent remarked, crossing to the radio. "You have to have pretty deep pockets to achieve something this wide-scaled."

"I'm certain President ShinRa has no issue with that." Nanaki snorted discontent, turning his attention to Yuffie as she plopped down on the half-step separating the foyer from the radio-room. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yeah, but I don't really know what to do with it."

Holding up the relic, she waited for him to approach and examine it.

"It is a safe of some sort."

"A lock-box, actually." she looked it over. It was small, made from dark walnut wood, and had a copper-and-gold dragon wound about it. When manipulated the dragon's mouth opened to reveal a keyhole.

"I don't suppose you know where the key is."

"Not a clue."

Vincent had been standing quietly to the side, studying the relic from a distance. Something familiar began to itch in the back of his mind.

"I've seen the key."

Yuffie and Red stopped talking and turned to him.

"What?"

"The key," he repeated, more certain this time. "I've seen it. It's in Nibelheim, attached to a book that discusses ancient relics."

Red tilted his head. "I thought Reeve obtained copies of the books?"

"They probably didn't realize what they were looking at, so they left it alone."

"And why would they ever think the key was useful?" Yuffie added. "Their job was to make copies. Not much room for independent thought in that kind of repetitive work."

A pause between them, the Vincent cleared his throat.

"I will go to Nibelheim. I still need to retrieve my materia and I believe I won't have an issue finding the book."

"I'll go too," Yuffie nodded. "The relic seems important. Better to open it sooner than later."

They waited for Nanaki.

"I'll begin back to Kalm then," meeting their inquisitive gazes, he shook his mane. "With the radio out we need to find some way to communicate. I am willing to be that way for now."

Rising from the floor, he walked to the door.

"If the airwaves return to normal, I'll call. If not, then I will do my best to meet you in Nibelheim."

Vincent nodded, and the beast left. Yuffie gave an exaggerated sigh.

"Guess you'll be telling me 'I told you so' then, right?"

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you to the following:<strong>

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	30. Chapter 30: Jacked

**Chapter Thirty: Jacked**

It was much, much, much too quiet.

Tifa wanted so badly to ask Reno how far they were from his old room, but she couldn't bring herself to risk the noise. They were being so careful- careful with movement, careful with speaking- hell, she hadn't taken a good breath since they hit the ground outside the building. She would hate to ruin things with a question that could answer itself.

They hadn't been able to see the warship anchor from where they were, but they could hear it. Six huge engines whirring in strange harmony; she might have thought it pretty if she weren't so nervous.

"Through here." Reno's voice was a welcome intrusion through her nervousness. "I'll go in. You stay watch."

For once Tifa didn't question or argue with him. She wanted to spend as little time as she had to there, and if that meant taking orders from a Turk for a little bit, so be it.

"Got it," he reemerged a minute later holding the materia. When he offered it to her she shied away. "What's the matter?"  
>"Nothing, just... We haven't had a lot of good luck when it comes to touching those things."<br>He shrugged, tucking it into his jacket. "I guess I can hold it 'til we get back."

It wasn't until they'd made it outside that Tifa dared the question.

"How exactly _are_ we getting back?"

"You're not."

The pair snapped around to face Vecena, who stood at the corner of the building, staff in hand. A bright orb of light glowed at the tip.

"No!" Reno yelled, and before Tifa could react he shoved her down, catching whatever wave of magic the witch had just shot toward her.

His skin shimmered, and then the light faded. His face was gray.

_"Reno!"_

She went to drop beside him, but was cut off by a mediocre lightning spell striking at her feet.

"Face me."

Tifa didn't move.

_"Face me!"_

Slowly she did as she was told, standing to look at the creature.

"Give me the materia."  
>"I don't have it."<br>"It was in the building."  
>"I didn't find it."<p>

Vecena seemed to stare at her. Tifa hoped It couldn't read a half-truth.

"Then you are useless."

Snapping Its staff upright, It took a few steps forward.

"I won't make this quick."

Tifa took a deep breath and put on her gloves.

* * *

><p>"It's cold."<br>"I told you to get a jacket."  
>"Right, from my scorched house."<br>"You could have looked in one of the vacant, un-scorched houses."  
>"Well, it's too late now."<p>

Vincent and Yuffie had been on the road for a short while. They'd left as soon as Vincent could retrieve and pack Shalva's saddlebags. Having shared a bird with Red on the ride in, Yuffie was forced to do so again on the way to Nibelheim, only this time she wasn't steering.

"I guess I made the assumption that I would be warmer riding with someone."  
>"You must have forgotten who you were riding with."<p>

She snorted, he smiled. A few seconds later she began shuffling around behind him. Shalva warked uncomfortably.

"Is everything alright?"  
>"Yes."<br>"What are you doing?"  
>"Finding a way to keep warm."<p>

Suddenly her hands were digging at his back, and it took him a moment to realize she was pulling his cape up. Then she was against his back.

"This should work."

She expected him to say something, but he didn't. The truth was he didn't mind her silliness, and he certainly didn't mind her pressing herself against him.

"Hey Vinnie?"  
>"Yes?"<br>"Do you think we'll be able to beat this?"

The question came out of nowhere, it seemed. But he understood her concern.

"I don't know."  
>"But there's a good chance, right? I mean, if Minerva herself is intervening for us..."<p>

She trailed off. For the first time in a long time, Vincent tried to be hopeful.

"I believe that is a very positive sign."  
>A pause. "Hopefully I won't die."<br>"I won't let that happen."

Again, something he hadn't done in a long time- make a promise that the Planet could shred to bits in an instant, if It willed.

Of course, Yuffie was weathered enough to know this, but to her it was the thought that mattered.

"Thanks Vinnie."

Not long after that she drifted off to sleep, nestled safely against Vincent and between Shalva's wings.

* * *

><p>It didn't take Cloud and Reeve long to abandon the Underground and head to the bar.<p>

"They're taking too long."  
>"The time they've been gone is appropriate. Elena only left an hour ago."<p>

Cloud grumbled into his drink. Reeve exhaled slowly, turning his glass calmly in one hand.

"The helicopter she's on is a special, classified prototype. It has a hyper-flight setting that puts it up to speeds rivaling most airships."

Cloud looked at him dully. "Is that supposed to be encouraging?"  
>Reeve wrinkled his nose, put-off. "Well, I'm sorry if it isn't."<p>

Letting out a noise of disgust with himself, the blonde ran a hand over his eyes. "No, Reeve. I'm sorry. It's just...there's a lot going on right now."  
>"I understand."<p>

Nearly half a minute passed before Cloud looked at him again.

"So, is Elena turning into another Tseng?"  
>Reeve smiled slightly. "Tseng is one-of-a-kind, I'm afraid. Elena is something entirely different."<br>"Explain."  
>"To put it plainly, she's in hiding."<br>"From what?"  
>"From <em>whom,<em> actually. Let's just say she got too involved with things and found herself in over her head with President ShinRa."  
>"That doesn't sound like her at all. After the last fire here she seemed a bit...bolder. Not the hiding type."<br>"She was- she _is_. She just...found there was too much at stake to fight back."

Cloud hummed, taking another drink.

"Well if she's on our side now, let's hope she still knows how to fight."

* * *

><p>"Reno. Reno, get up."<p>

Tifa begged the motionless redhead to give her some sign of life, all while never removing her eyes from Vecena.

"Reno, please-."

"He's dead," the witch spat coldly. "Your sniveling won't bring him back. It won't save you, either."

Tifa didn't respond. Vecena chuckled.

"Poor Tifa Lockheart. Not even the scum-of-the-earth Turk could muster the stomach to watch you die. You live alone, you sleep alone, you fight alone-."

"You're wrong."

The voice turned them both to Elena, who had appeared on the other side of the clearing. She stripped off her jacket.

"She won't fight alone." Tossing it aside, she eyed Reno. "Is he dead?"

Tifa shook her head slightly. "I'm not sure."

Whether or not Vecena was annoyed was indeterminable. Not that either of them cared.

Sliding on her gloves, Elena lifted her chin.

"Get the staff away from It. It's just another monster without it."

Vecena cackled. "Try if you can!"

It tapped the flat end of the staff on the ground. A blanket of ice crawled out from the tip, spreading until the fighters were standing in a wide ring. An eerie glow emanated underneath.

"Step lightly, ladies. Wouldn't want you to drown in fresh mako."

Finding each other across their new battlefield, Tifa and Elena exchanged nods, then charged forward.

Tifa hit the ground first, sliding under while Elena leapt for the witch's chest. Vecena turned, dodging Tifa and catching Elena with her staff. The blonde hung on, spinning for nearly a full 360 before letting go. She flew toward Tifa.

"Elena!" Tifa yelled, holding out a hand. Elena grabbed it, and the younger woman twisted with a yell and threw the ex-Turk back into the fight.

Her feet connected with Vecena's side, sending the two sprawling across the ice. The villain screeched. Elena struggled to her feet, looking up just as Tifa blazed past, blocking the staff that was aimed for her head and countering with a few punches of her own.

The fight became a kaleidoscope of ice, steel, feet and fists after that. More than once the two thought they'd won, only to be blown back to the edge of the ice by some spell. By the time they were back up, the witch had used an elixir.

Until they got the staff.

While Tifa was going a round of one-on-one, Elena slid past and grabbed it, skidding away before Vecena could counter.

It bellowed, but nothing happened. Elena was right- the witch was considerably less powerful without Its weapon.

But it wasn't over yet. Whatever energy they used to get the staff, they spent twice that keeping it away. The unasked question as to whether or not Vecena possessed a Limit Break remained woefully unanswered. As the fight wore on both women couldn't help the thought that by that point, if Vecena were to enter into some sort of ultimate mode, they would surely die. But neither of them said anything.

Again, the witch began to reach a breaking point. Elena had the staff, and Tifa was coming up to deal a Bolt-strengthened roundhouse kick when suddenly, Vecena snapped.

"Enough!" It shot up from a doubled over position, the hollow part of Its face glowing.

Tifa slid to a halt just a few feet away. Elena watched in horror.

"Oh my god."

The shadowy light that erupted from the witch spiraled around the field, winding around both women until it looked as though they stood in a smoky maze.

And then, quiet.

Elena knew that silence. That gelled, deafening lack of sound. Meeting Tifa's scared eyes, she screamed.

_"Get away from It!"_

It was too late. The low sound of a Nova III spell erupted from Vecena's skull, shattering the ground beneath them. Elena turned to Reno's motionless body and screamed for him as she dropped into the mako pool.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you to the following:**

**Reviews:**

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	31. Chapter 31: Aggression

**Chapter Thirty-One: Aggression**

"Reno."

Turquoise eyes snapped open, then narrowed.

_"Shit-_ dim the lights, would ya?"

A loud, static pop, and he could see. He was standing in a small interrogation room, separated by a table from a tall, beautiful woman who emanated a strange, captivating aura.

"Where am I?"

She stared at him. He tilted his head.

"...have we met?"  
>"Yes."<p>

It was hearing her voice a second time that did it. He furrowed his brow.

"Minerva."

She nodded.

"I'm dead, aren't I?"  
>"Yes."<p>

"Shit." He inhaled sharply, running both hands over his scalp as he began to pace. "Shit, shit, shit, shit..."

He trailed off, trying to piece together what happened.

"We were in Mideel, getting that weird materia. We went outside, and-." He stopped, abruptly turning to the goddess. "Tifa."

"She's alive."

He sighed relief, but it was short-lived.

"Vecena has taken her."

Reno froze, shaking his head slowly.

"But Aeris...Aeris said-."  
>"If you hadn't been there, she would have died, yes. You took her place."<p>

He took this in; slumping into a chair that he wasn't entirely certain had been there before that moment.

"I'm dead." he laughed, dropping his head. "I'm...dead."  
>"Reno."<p>

Another static pop and a rectangular window lit up in the wall beside them. Reno looked up.

It was Elena, gasping to breathe as she clutched the ground just inches from his corpse. The lower half of her body was submerged in mako, and it was sucking the life from her.

He was on his feet in an instant, chair clattering to the floor as the world began to spin around him.

"No-_ no! Elena!"_

He turned to Minerva, who stood, emotionless.

"What are you doing? Save her!"  
>"I cannot intervene for mortals."<br>"Bullshit! You just fucking did it through me for Tifa!"

She only stared. After waiting impatiently for a moment he turned back to the screen, watching with clenched fists as mako continued to rise around the helpless woman.

"Soon she will be with you. Don't you want that?"

Reno couldn't move; his dead heart burned a hole in his chest as he watched her weakly try to touch his hand.

"She disappeared," he said quietly. "After the New Year's massacre- she left me in her apartment. She swore we would see each other again...we never did."  
>"She had good reason."<br>"Yeah. I know."  
>"Do you?"<p>

He didn't want to argue with her. He didn't want to watch Elena die, either.

"She deserves to live." he turned to Minerva. "Please, let her live."

The goddess still just watched him, studied him. After a while, she turned to the glass.

"You gave your life for someone else's. You plead for the one who broke your heart. ...You are better than you think."

Reno hesitated, looking back at the glass disdainfully.

"That's a 'no,' isn't it?"

Suddenly, Minerva reached over and grabbed his arm. He looked at her hand, then to his chest. Something was buzzing. Reaching up, he pulled out Tifa's materia.

"What the-?"

She cut him off with her mouth. Slanting it against his, he barely had time to flail back before she was gone in a cloud of smoke.

He breathed her in, suddenly feeling very sleepy...

* * *

><p>From the stealth airship, Aeris watched the ground below with wide eyes.<p>

"Oh no," she shook her head, pressing a hand to her mouth. "Oh no, no, no...We're too late."

As they neared the abandoned warehouse, it was apparent the continent was sinking. They'd missed the Nova that had started the catastrophe, but that didn't mean they were safe. Not while Rufus's ship still hovered close by. Though it did appear to be moving...

Aeris scaled the walkway in front of the bay window, frantically trying to spot Tifa- Reno- anyone. On the loudspeakers, an alarm began to sound.

"Impending shockwave from departing warship. Brace for impact."

She looked up to the behemoth hovering nearby. It had begun to turn north.

"Aeris!"

Tseng was at the end of the walkway, panic in his eyes.

"Hold on!"

All at once, every engine from the warship kicked on at full hyperflight speed, sending a wave almost as violent as the initial one from the Nova rocking through the air. The stealth ship plummeted, sending Aeris hurdling through zero gravity toward the wall. Tseng grabbed her mid-spin, pulling her close enough to latch onto him before anchoring them both to the walkway.

Aeris shut her eyes, praying fervently.

And then it stopped.

There was no crash-landing. No impact alarm. Nothing.

Aeris lifted her head from Tseng's chest. The blood drained from her face.

"Tseng?"

The Turk looked at her. She uncurled one arm to point to the bay window. He followed her direction.

"By the gods."

It was Reno, standing on one of the few remaining patches of land. In his arms hung Elena. His eyes were completely white.

* * *

><p>The bar in Kalm was quiet in the early afternoon hours.<p>

Reeve and Cloud had spent the better part of their time there checking their phones, talking about airships, occasionally taking a sip of their slowly watering drinks, and then checking their phones again. The television in the corner droned on about the weather, as if they couldn't tell it was pouring outside. The barkeep listened quietly to a man as he slurred a confession concerning a prostitute. Behind them the lunch rush was just wrapping up in the restaurant, leaving behind the strong smell of leftovers and the hushed voices of the wait staff cleaning in its wake.

As if they noticed it at the same time, Cloud and Reeve fell into a silent reverence for the room they were in. In that moment, for that moment, they were just two guys in a bar on a rainy day, having a drink.

They imagined a moment without Vecena- without Rufus, even. Maybe they were in Kalm on their way to Costa del Sol? Reeve had managed to get a week off of work to join them. Cloud had taken breakfast in bed to Tifa before going to meet him in the bar so they could discuss stock or something ridiculous. Any minute Cid now and the others would be bursting in, shaking the rain off their shoulders and bitching about the weather, no doubt-.

The sound of a PHS ringing brought them back to the icy reality they actually existed in.

Startled, Reeve snatched both their phones off the bartop.

"We're back online," he tilted his head. "...the same number is calling us both."  
>"Is that possible?" Cloud took his phone cautiously. They answered at the same time.<p>

"Hello?"  
>"Cloud, don't listen to them!"<br>His heart stopped and he stood. "Tifa."  
>"Cloud-!"<p>

Static.

"I found something of yours running around Mideel, Mr. Strife."

His eyes narrowed. "Rufus."

"Her materia. Bring it to me."

He turned to Reeve, who was already shaking his head.

"I don't have it."

"Funny!" his voice jumped an octave. "She said the same thing- 'I don't have it.' You know what that means, don't you?"

"Neither of us have it?"

"It means one of you is lying!" he shrieked. "Go to Mideel and find it. Then you bring me the Ancient materia- all of it- you bring me that Wutaian brat, and maybe, just maybe I'll let you see her before she dies!"

He laughed manically. Tifa screamed in the background. Cloud was about to snap.

"Rufus." Reeve interjected, feigning calm.  
>"What?!" his voice was warped.<br>"Where will you be?"

He breathed heavily into the receiver a few times before chuckling.

"You'll know."

Dial tone.

Before Reeve could say anything Cloud let out an enraged yell, grabbing his almost-empty glass from the bar and throwing it into the wall.

Reeve rose, pulling a few bills from his pocket and setting them on the bar.

"For the drinks," he saw the man's alarmed look and quickly added a little more. "And for your trouble."

He tucked his wallet and phone into his jacket, hurrying to keep up with Cloud as he stormed off into the rain.

"Cloud, where are you going? The Underground is the other way!" he saw the road leading out to where the Shera was parked a few miles away. "You can't take the airship, Cloud. We have to wait for the others."

When he didn't stop, Reeve sprinted to catch up then stopped in front of him.

"_Goddamn it_, listen to me!"

"He was supposed to protect her!" he yelled, breaking. "That fucking Turk! The Planet told Aeris, 'he was the only one who could'- and for what? He kept her alive just long enough for Rufus to take her away and kill her somewhere else?"

Reeve stared at him, not knowing what to say.

"Tell me something, Reeve. If the Planet's so goddamn set on us saving it, why doesn't it just tell us what to do? Why can't it be straightforward? All this running around, this...cryptic shit. Even Yuffie's dead mom couldn't come right out with one fucking detail. How are we supposed to figure this out?"

If either of them had had any sense at that moment, they would have moved into a building to save the last few stitches of their clothes from becoming wet. But they didn't. They just stood in the rain, staring at each other as the water soaked clear to their bones.

Finally, Reeve shook his head. "I wish I had an answer for you, but I don't. Those are hard questions, even for ones like Nanaki and Vincent. All I know is if we want to keep on living, we have to fight."

Cloud didn't say anything.

"We can't go to Mideel, Cloud."

His eyes snapped up to meet his.

"Zack."

The memory hit him like a wrecking ball.

Zack Fair, you foreshadowing bitch.

"I'll wait on the ship, then."

He walked past Reeve, eyes dark as he stared blankly ahead. The man turned with him.

"Cloud."

He paused, but didn't look back.

"If Reno saved her in Mideel," he cleared his throat. "There's a good chance he's dead."

A moment of silence, then the two went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>"Of course the weather turns to shit the minute we get into the fucking open."<p>

Barret smirked. "When it rains, it pours."

"That ain't a real thing!"

Barret, Cid and Davies trudged across the plain toward Kalm, unable to go much faster than a trot thanks to the stable they had rented from. The only birds available were fresh off the field; barely broken.

"At this rate, we might reach the place by sundown," Cid grumbled.

"We could always run?" Davies offered, earning an empty soda can chucked at his head.

"Nobody's runnin'! For Shiva's sake..." He reached into his bag and pulled out a poncho.

"The hell you doin' with that?" Barret asked, amused.

"What'sit look like? I'm puttin' it on!"

The two poncho-less men watched with suppressed smiles on their faces as the older man struggled to get a piece of plastic over his already soaked clothes. It wasn't until he'd finished that they could see the jacket was in fact pink, not the neon orange it appeared to be while folded.

They burst into hysterics.

"Laugh it up, clowns!" he bellowed, digging into his saddlebag again and producing a cigarette. He pulled the rim of the poncho far out over his face, then lit up.

The clowns continued to laugh it up.

They trudged on for the distance of two cigarettes. By the time a third was retrieved, Kalm was just in view.

"'Bout damn time."

"Wonder if we'll be the last ones back?" Davies scratched his chin.

They both snorted. "Doubt it."

Suddenly, from a point far south that none of them could see, something began to rumble. The noise stayed low, but grew, getting bigger and bigger until the ground beneath them began to tremble.

All three riders dismounted.

"What the hell is that?"

"The warship," Davies looked up. "It must be coming back."

The pinpoint appeared, growing behind the noise as it hurdled toward them at an insane speed. Cid flicked his smoke to the side and pulled his hood back.

"Minerva, Shiva and Odin," he breathed.

By the time the ship actually reached them, the chocobos were going wild. Being fairly new to transporting, they weren't cut out for the type of noise that was happening right now- hell, even seasoned birds would have been spooked. It was all the men could do to get their packs off of them before they bolted. Not that it mattered. Cid decided in that instant that they needed to get to Kalm _now._

Shouldering their rucksacks they took off, silently praying they wouldn't find themselves alone in the village when they got there.

* * *

><p>The ship had stabilized. It hovered beside the stranded couple, just over the rising mako.<p>

"Let them in!" Tseng yelled, running down the corridor to the deck. "For Ramuh's sake, open the door!"

A few frightened crew members stood around the controls, flitting nervous glances between the "door open" button and the door itself. They had seen what was out there. They had seen his eyes.

Pushing through them, Tseng mashed the button himself. The door hummed open.

Reno stood calmly the whole time, waiting. Mako had begun licking the sides of his shoes, but he never looked down. He just stared pointedly at a ship he shouldn't have been able to see.

"Shall I disable Stealth mode, sir?" one of the crewmen asked.

"I don't think that will be necessary," he looked at the gap between them. "Perhaps we could move the ship closer-."

Reno jumped. He cleared seven or eight feet and landed with a solid thud on the ramp. It looked awkwardly...not human.

"Holy shit!" one of the crewmen yelled. The third one- a young Wutaian man- began praying in his native tongue.

Reno walked up the ramp. Tseng shut the door behind them.

"Reno-."  
>"She is alive. Take her."<p>

He held Elena out level with his body. Something was seriously wrong here.

Hesitantly the Turk stepped forward, gently sliding his arms about the unconscious woman and taking her.

Reno's white gaze snapped suddenly to the side.

"You."

Everyone turned to see Aeris standing calmly in the doorway.

"We have to talk."  
>"I know."<p>

Tseng looked between them. "Be careful, I believe he may have a significant level of mako poisoning-."

"That isn't Reno," she cut him off, eyes never moving. "It's Minerva."

* * *

><p>"She found the relic, now she just needs the key to unlock it."<p>

Aeris hummed thoughtfully, replacing the cold washcloth on Elena's forehead as she listened to Minerva give instructions and updates.

Tseng paced nearby, one hand in his pocket. "So once she truly has it, all we need is to give her the materia?"  
>"There's a bit more of a process, but yes."<br>"No prayers or magic scriptures to recite?"

Aeris giggled. Minerva snorted.

"This isn't a video game, Tseng."

"Oh," his cheeks flushed, and he averted his eyes to Aeris. She smiled at him warmly.

(I haven't seen him blush like that since-.)

She stopped herself. This wasn't the time for that.

"The materia," she looked back to Reno/Minerva. "We came here to get Tifa..."

She trailed off, leaving two questions hanging.

"Her materia is here." She pulled the orb from Reno's pocket, holding it out to Tseng. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and took it. "Tifa is alive, but in great danger.

Tseng and Aeris exchanged worried looks.

"Is she with Rufus?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"At the Northern Crater," she began. "A castle has begun forming. You will have to go there to find Vecena. Tifa will also be there. She can survive, but she will not find her way out without you."

She fell quiet. Aeris looked at Tseng.

"So what now?"

"We call Reeve and the others. We'll tell them to stay in Kalm until we get back, then we'll all go to Nibelheim together."

"Leave in the morning," Minerva instructed. "These bodies need time to heal. If you place them near the water outside Kalm I can speed the process."

A pause. Aeris nodded.

"We need all the help we can get."

"Thank you, Goddess."

"I must go," she stood, looking at Aeris. "I need to return to the Lifestream."

The Ancient blinked slowly, as if remembering something, then approached the walking vessel.

Stepping up on her tiptoes, she placed her lips gently against Reno's. A wind blew through the infirmary. The cloudy white color drained from them, and they shut. Reno collapsed.

Aeris shivered and took a step back. Her legs buckled instantly, but Tseng was right behind her. He caught her and lowered them both down, bracing her against his chest.

"Mind explaining what that was?"

"She needed to return to the Lifestream. Next to pure mako, I'm the closest connection there is." she sighed deeply. "She's gone now."

They sat in silence for a moment, before Tseng cleared his throat.

"Reno-."

"Yeah, we should probably move him."

They stood up, moving the body to the cot adjacent Elena. Aeris looked at Tseng.

"I'll look after them. You make the call."

"Wish me luck. I'll bring you some tea."

She nodded, pulling a chair up beside Reno and setting to work on his wounds.

* * *

><p>The sight of Nibelheim in late afternoon was beautiful.<p>

You might say it was one for sore eyes, but Vincent had been holding Yuffie for the better part of the last two hours of their trip.

So.

Not long after she'd drifted off behind him, they'd encountered a few monsters that Vincent had trouble evading without waking her up. Of course, the moment they were away from danger she'd done just that. It didn't take much convincing to get her to move in front of him, and soon the days of exhaustion and emotion stress reclaimed her for sleep.

He decided quickly that he enjoyed the feeling of her against his chest.

As he surveyed the village below, his phone rang. Funny, he hadn't even heart the "back online" tone.

"Yes?" he answered.

It was Tseng. He explained the newest situation, and the group's next course of action. Thankfully it didn't involve them having to turn around and go back to Kalm.

"Very well. We'll see you in the morning."

He hung up. Yuffie stirred.

"The phones are back on?"  
>"It seems that way."<br>"Who was that?"  
>"Tseng. We've missed quite a bit."<br>"We don't have to go back, do we?"  
>"No. They'll meet us here in the morning."<br>"Nice." She stretched, breathing in the clean mountain air. "Guess there's no time to waste."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you to the following:<br>Reviews:**

**Axelkin:** Glad I could surprise you! Hope this was a pleasant surprise as well.

**Blackstar Angel: **Thanks! I just got so many reviews so fast for chapter 28 that I thought "Eh, why wait?" :D You know I couldn't keep Reno dead for long. ;) I did have a great fourth! Hope you did, too, if you're in the US (and if you're not, it's still a fun excuse to set off fireworks)!

**CupofTeaforAliceandHatter: **I know, right? Vecena's a pretty nasty character. I wouldn't mind killing her off soon. ^^ Thanks for the review!

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**Winterwing3000:** Thanks! I'm always a little self-conscious when it comes to writing fight scenes. I'm fairly certain they all come across cheesy. Hopefully I'll get better at it, seeing as how they're about to go square off with the bad guy. So. ^^ Thanks for reading! Glad you enjoy it!

**Guest: **Thanks!Here's the next chapter! XD

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	32. Chapter 32: Storm

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Storm**

The chill that greeted them as they entered Nibelheim was a familiar harbinger of snow. And, judging by the depth of the cold, it was bringing a lot.

"It won't be much longer now," Vincent slid from Shalva to open the Mansion gates. "We need to gather wood and get a fire going if we don't want to freeze."

"Us? Freeze? Not in that giant...drafty house..." Yuffie mused as she hopped down behind him. She removed their packs from the chocobo as he led her off to the barn. "Is she going to be warm enough in there?"

"I fashioned an extension to the heating system some years ago to reach her stall. It should be enough to keep her alive."

"Charming," she muttered as he disappeared around the side of the house. "Guess I'll be getting the firewood then."

Resolving to take their things inside first, she approached the front door. The lock was rusty, grinding as she turned the knob and leaned into the door with a grunt. The thick, ancient wood gave with an angry crack, moaning the entire way in and leaving her standing on the threshold; a silhouette against the late evening light to the dark room in front of her.

She walked into the foyer, shrinking with every step. It had been years since she'd set foot there- before Meteor, even. Nothing had changed-nothing had _moved_- but somehow it was different. It was _cleaner_.

"After Meteor, I began living upstairs," Vincent's voice startled her as he entered behind her, arms full of dry wood. "It still needs some work, but it should suffice for tonight."

"One person can only clean so much..." she trailed off, suppressing the urge to tell him she'd planned on bringing in firewood herself. She also resisted pointing out that she'd stayed in the mansion when it was overrun with monsters, so, clean or not, monster-less was an improvement of infinite measure.

Instead, she changed the subject. "So, the others are coming in the morning?"

"Yes," he re-emerged from the living room. She noticed his cape was gone. "Tseng said they had to stay the night to let Reno and Elena recover. Minerva is reaching out through the lake to help heal them."

"Gawd," she breathed, running her fingers over a nearby vase. "When did a statement like that become normal?"

He paused in the door on his way out for more wood. "You should also know that Tifa has been kidnapped."

Yuffie jumped, barely catching the vase after she hit it and quickly setting it on the floor. She jogged out of the house after him.

"What?!"

"There was a battle in Mideel. Apparently Reno was killed and Vecena took Tifa. They're at a castle in the Northern Crater."

"There's a castle in the Northern Crater...?"

"A recent addition, I believe."

They stopped at an overhang off the side of the barn where a large pile of wood sat. Vincent loaded his arms as best he could, then turned to Yuffie expectantly.

She stared at him. "Tseng told you all of that?"

"Yes."

"You guys were on the phone for like two minutes."

"We didn't converse."

He waited patiently for her to come to terms with his lack of emotion. She shook her head, grabbing a few pieces of wood to finish off the stack in his arms then picking up several for herself.

"Whatever."

They went back inside, and this time she followed him to the room where the fireplace waited in the corner. His cape was draped over a wingback chair that sat askew a few feet in front of it; he'd probably moved it to get to the wood-holder.

"So that's it then," she ventured quietly, waiting for him to take the logs from her. "We're just going to sit here until they come tomorrow?"

"We still have your relic to unlock. And I need to retrieve my materia- though that will only take a moment," he added the last bit as an afterthought. "What would you suggest we do otherwise?"

She stared at him. After a moment he caught her glare and paused, calmly staring back.

It was infuriating, the way he never freaked out or seemed worried. Infuriating and hot.

"Nothing, I guess," she submitted finally, lowering her gaze.

He finished stacking the firewood, then set to making a fire. It only took the time of layering the logs in the fireplace and opening the flu; then he used a Fire materia.

"Cheater," she snorted.

"Work smart, not hard."

She was glad his back was to her, because the look of shocked amusement that crossed her face might have insulted him.

He straightened to face her. "The house should be well heated by the time we get back."

"Where are we going?"

"The bar. Aren't you hungry?"

On cue, her stomach growled loudly. Frowning, she placed a hand over it.

"Guess that granola bar on the ride over wasn't enough."

He retrieved his cloak and buckled it back on.

"There's a coat closet upstairs. You should find something to wear for the walk into the village. It will be much colder by the time we leave to come back."

* * *

><p>Snow was just beginning to fall when they left the Mansion. Yuffie watched with mild interest as flakes landed and melted on the dark sleeves of the coat she wore. It was a long-coat, obviously made for a man, obviously unworn in quite some time. She still wasn't fully convinced she'd gotten all of the moths out of it, and paused every few feet to shake her arms just in case.<p>

"We won't have much time to eat once we're there," Vincent said as he walked beside her. "We need to get settled in before the storm hits."

"_Storm_?" she furrowed her brow. "Here? But we're-."  
>"Not as protected as we seem," he interrupted. "We're at the foot of the mountain, in a sort of half-basin. I've seen three feet fall in a night here."<br>"Three feet...?" she echoed softly.

As they entered the pub a wave of pause greeted them. Patrons of the bar and restaurant alike put a momentary hold on their conversations to take a look at the odd couple- a war-and-weather-worn mystery man and a wide-eyed girl in a coat that hung to her knees. They must have seemed harmless enough, because the noise resumed shortly after.

"Two, at the bar please." Vincent signaled to the hostess as she greeted them. She gladly led them to the corner against the far wall where there were only two seats left. They ordered their drinks.

"This place is busy for such a small town."  
>"They know a drift is coming."<br>"Ah, getting their liquor in before the storm."  
>He nodded.<p>

On the opposite side of the bar, a man slurred his request for a six-pack to take home. The bartender refused him, saying there wasn't enough to sell and serve. The man pouted then slouched/stumbled out of the pub.

"Geez, I wish _my _only concern was not having enough booze to make it through a blizzard." Yuffie took the short glass in her hand the moment it was in front of her, sipping at her whisky and cola.  
>"I'm sure you'll get that wish someday."<p>

She smiled. There he was with that damn optimism again. What the hell was with him lately?

He caught her quirked lips. "Was that funny?"  
>"Coming from you, yes."<p>

Vincent hummed. She cut her eyes up at him.

"It's nice."

He looked back at her, a quiet spark passing between them before fading into the air as the bartender approached with two plates of fried fish.

"We didn't order this-," Yuffie started.  
>"It's all we got left, toots," the man replied in a gruff, tired voice. "Kitchen's closin' early on account a' the storm- or didn't you notice?"<p>

He pointed to the flickering TV above them. The scene was of the mountains behind North Corel- at least, that's what it seemed like at a glance. On further examination they saw what they were looking at was actually North Corel itself, obscured so much by a wall of snow that the streetlights were barely visible.

"I thought that side of the range was hot?"  
>"It changes when the tides of the Planet shift," the bartender replied. "Dark times must be a'comin'. Dark times indeed."<p>

He shook his head and turned away. Yuffie wrinkled her nose and took another drink.

"Good grief. Who needs the news when you've got 'Old Ominous Weatherman Joe' here?"  
>"But he's right."<br>She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

They ate their food and finished their drinks in rushed silence. Whether or not she believed a blizzard _was_ coming, Yuffie didn't want to spend any more time in the packed pub than she had to, and Vincent was just ready to leave.

As they were nearing the end of their meal, a fight broke out on the restaurant side. Someone was trying to dine-and-dash.

"You have to pay just like everyone else!"  
>"I'm not forking out for your ridiculous prices! Ten dollars for a sandwich?! I paid four for the exact same meal three days ago!"<p>

"We should go," Vincent said, standing.

Yuffie looked back at the brewing trouble then stood as well, swiping the last piece of fish from her plate and hastily stuffing it in her mouth.

"That'll be thirty for the food, ten for the drinks."

"What?!" Yuffie yelped, though it came out a bit more muffled than that.

Vincent didn't seem fazed. "I'll give you fifty. That should cover the gentleman over there as well."

A greedy light flashed in the man's eye, but one look at the gunslinger and he thought it better to just take the money than try and gouge more.

Yuffie still wasn't done with her drink, but she didn't feel like guzzling. Spitefully she swiped the glass from the bar, giving a sour eye to the man behind it.

"Enjoy your angry customers," she said, taking a sip and turning to follow her counterpart out the door. He didn't try to stop her.

Once outside, she was surprised to find the snow was already to her ankles.

"Geez, you weren't kidding, were you?"

"I'm afraid not."

She trotted a few steps to walk beside him, careful not to slosh her glass.

"Are they always like that here when it snows? Raising prices and all that?"

"It isn't the snow. It's the air. There's been a shift in the Lifestream that's triggered more carnal instincts- food, drink, shelter- gouging prices is just one of the ways some try to ensure that if something goes wrong they'll be left holding the most cards."

"Cards being money."

"In Nibelheim, at least."

"You can tell all that from _dinner_?"

"It's happened before. When Meteor hit, when Sephiroth returned..." he lowered his voice. "When Sephiroth was born."

They reached the gate, but Vincent didn't open it right away. He hesitated, eyes lowered as though he were deep in a memory.

Seeing his hesitation, Yuffie opened the gate herself.

"That was a long time ago. This is a new situation now."

The tone of her voice was gentle, and it calmed the turmoil that had begun brewing at the thought of Lucrecia. Vincent had long since made peace with her role in his life- or, rather, his in hers- but knowing that she'd submitted herself for the experiment that was Sephiroth- an experiment that, in retrospect, he had every ability and opportunity to stop- still haunted him most days.

_"It 'haunts' us both."_

He tensed. (Now is not the time for you to make a noise, Beast.)

_"I've been quiet long enough, Vincent. Remember, you're the one who decided to follow her here."_

"Vinnie?"

He shook himself back to reality, where Yuffie now stood on the snow-covered path leading to the Mansion, concern in her eyes.

"It's here, isn't it?" she asked softly. "Chaos?"

He blinked slowly, trying to think of an alternative answer. He wasn't quick enough.

"Let's get inside before the wind sets in."

* * *

><p>She didn't see how well he handled the return of the Monster, because the moment the door shut behind them he went upstairs to his room- alone. The one on the right where the door to the basement was.<p>

She assumed _she_ would be in the one near the arboretum, seeing as it was the only other room with a decent bed- not that she minded. The thought of being near the trees appealed to her. It was there she stayed, reading through the pamphlets that accompanied the partially wilted greenery, until she heard the loud bang of metal on metal.

"Vinnie?" she called, drawing Conformer and quickly making her way down the hall to his room. There was no answer, and she didn't hear any further noise, which was more disturbing than comforting.

"Vincent?" she asked again, this time carefully pushing the door to his room open and entering in. Tiptoeing through the sitting area, she peeked through the cracked door to the master before lowering her weapon.

It was empty, but the basement door was pulled back.

"Why yes, Vinnie, I would love to go downstairs with you," she grumbled, hanging Conformer off her belt before gripping the spiral staircase railing and descending.

Of course it was dark, but like the rest of the mansion she could tell it, too, was different- meaning free of monsters. The smell had downgraded from the decaying undead she remembered to a lovely brand of dank dirt.

Once on the ground, a small torch at the end of the hall was all she had to light her path. She knew it hung outside the lab- a place she didn't care to see again, but she knew she would have to if she wanted to get to the library. On the way there she passed the nook where Vincent's casket sat. The door was open but she could barely make out the dark outline of it in the blackness.

(Hard to believe he lived in that thing for all those years. Immortal or not, how the hell did he _not _die of boredom?)

Curiosity piqued she stepped to the side, daring to approach the coffin for a quick look.

"The library is the next door down-."

She squealed, jumping around to face him.

"Or did you forget?"

Yuffie wanted so badly to kick him, especially when she detected that smart-ass smirk of his under his ascot. But she didn't.

"...I didn't forget."

"I know."

She scowled, following him the rest of the way to the library.

"My materia is still in the back. I haven't been down here very long."

"I figured. I heard the door open."

A chill swept over her as they entered the lab and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying not to look at the giant test tubes she knew once held the likes of Cloud and Zack. Instead she focused on the desk at the end of the bookshelf-lined hall. It was clearly visible because it was covered with candles.

"The power goes out regularly during storms here," he explained, stopping to pick out a few books along the way. "Candles and lanterns are a bit more reliable in this room."

When they reached the desk, Vincent pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the top left drawer. Inside was a flat, black box.

"Is that it?" Yuffie leaned on the other side of the desk, looking down as he set the thing between them.

"It is."

"Open it."

He placed a hand on the lid, then drew it away after a moment.

"We should find your key first. In case the materia takes us away again."

Again, the weary, "When did such weird-ass statements become normal?" feeling washed over the ninja, and she sighed.

"Fine. Where should we start?"

"Hard to say," he turned to look at the wall left of the desk. "Before Reeve's men came, I knew the book was somewhere on this side. But I have already found they didn't place things back where they retrieved them."

"Bitches."

"I'd have to agree with you on that."

Yuffie smiled, glancing at him. His chin was lifted to the bookshelf, eyes scanning the spines-.

(Like he actually remembers the _title._)

Then again, maybe he did. Who was she to say he had a bad memory?

The flickering lights danced across his back. His cape was off again, exposing his arms. Those strong, gentle arms...

"We should get to work."

She hoped he didn't see her startle. Goosebumps erupted over her skin and she furiously rubbed them away.

"Right."

Walking to the opposite wall, she began pulling books from the shelf.

* * *

><p>Vincent was on his way to switch out the second batch of candles; having burned them almost to the wick, he wasn't looking to start a house fire- at least, not tonight.<p>

Not that he hadn't ever thought about torching the place before.

Why, when he was in his coffin he'd thought about it daily, but then there was all that stuff about atoning for his sins and blah, blah, blah...

Hours had passed since they began their search. At some point the clock had struck midnight in the village, but they'd kept on searching. Two walls were completely combed at this point, leaving the shelf behind the desk and the hallway to go through.

When he re-entered the office, he was amused to find Yuffie slouching against one of the shelves, eyes drifting open and shut. One hand rested on a book above her, the other braced her body against the wall.

Vincent walked to stand beside her.

_"Such a pretty face, Vincent. Remember how it looks now, because it won't be that way much longer."_

(Leave.)

_"You can't push me out. This is __our__ home."_

(I won't let you control me!)

_"Oh, but I already do, Vincent. You wouldn't __believe__ just how weak __she __makes __you__."_

He didn't realize his eyes were shut until they snapped open to the soft touch of Yuffie's hands on his face.

"Vinnie?"

He didn't move. He could barely breathe.

"It's Choas again, isn't it?"

He tried to plead with her, but nothing came out.

(No, Yuffie, don't-.)

Shifting to stand on a stack of books between them, the woman pushed herself up to meet his lips with hers. She was sweet, with a hint of whisky still on her lips from the bar.

Suddenly he was able to move again. He took her around the waist and lifted her from her makeshift stepstool. The candles that had been long-forgotten in his hand were dropped to the floor, and he nearly crushed them underfoot as he carried her to the desk.

"Vincent," she pleaded softly as he set her down, carefully moving what little fire was left out of the way so she could lie back- but she didn't, not yet.

Their armor came off first; strips of mythril and sheet-diamond that plastered their bodies were suddenly too much, soon finding their new home in the floor with the books. Next were the weapons; Conformer slid down the side of the desk while Death Penalty was propped up in the chair behind it.

Vincent leaned over her, gently unzipping the front of her shirt with one hand as she looked up at him. Her entire body ached from a pain she hadn't even known she'd been enduring. The fabric slid back, exposing her bruised skin. He removed his glove and ran a hand around her, drawing a sigh.

"Please, Vincent-."

His lips were over hers again in an instant. God, the taste of her was enough to make him drunk. She began to lie back, begging him with her body to follow.

He did.

_"See? Weakness!"_

A familiar, horrible pain rocked through his body, and he broke away from Yuffie with a gasp.

She was instantly on alert. "Vinnie?"

"You have to go, now." He stumbled back, clutching his head.

Sliding to her feet, she approached him. "No, Vincent-."

"_Now!" _

She froze. Never before had she heard him yell- at anyone. But all it took was one look- that shift to shimmering, black eyes- and she knew if she stayed much longer she would be stuck in a room with Chaos.

Grabbing her armor and Conformer she ran. She didn't stop, even when she heard the lab door slam shut behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you to the following!**

**Reviews:**

**CupofTeaforAliceandHatter: **I'm glad you liked it! :D Hope you liked this one, too!

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**Guest: **XD Good thing they're not _dead_ dead yet, right?

**pegasiger: **Thanks! This chapter was actually chopped into a few pieces because it was WAY too long. Hopefully it won't be too much! :D

**hannahbananaonthesavannah: **I know. I love Reno, too! I also love beating him up. It's a terrible relationship, really (for him! XD)!

**Br0k3n Ang3l: **^^ Thank you!

**Blackstar Angel: **Hehe, glad you caught that! ;D You know I have to keep going with the mystery bit, too. I mean, it isn't really Final Fantasy if at one point you aren't yelling at the omnipotent being character of the plot, right? ^^

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Thanks for reading!


	33. Chapter 33: Choices

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Choices**

Yuffie didn't stop.

Not when the door to the lab slammed shut.

Not when she reached the stairs.

Not even when she was back in Vincent's room, bolting the basement door behind her.

It was a useless gesture- trying to contain Chaos with a rusty, old lock- but it gave a false sense of security that she clung to long enough to stop running and walk the remainder of the way to her room.

She locked that door too- for good measure.

"Mother _fucking _demons," she spat, flopping down on the bed. Her pack jabbed into her lower back and she reached to grab it. The Ancient relic slid out and landed haphazardly on her thigh.

"Mother _fucking _box," she reiterated her distaste as she sat up, resisting the urge to fling the old hunk of wood through the wall. The thing was turning out to be a bigger pain-in-the-ass than she'd expected.

(And now that Chaos is here, there's no way I'll find the key before morning.)

"Unless he leaves the mansion," she answered her thought aloud, then shivered. The idea of being alone in the lab was unnerving, not to mention Chaos leaving would mean he'd be loose in Nibelheim- or _anywhere _else.

Pulling the box onto her lap, she studied the copper/silver dragon on the front for a moment. As much as she loathed it she couldn't help but admire the handiwork, and a small spark of pride struck inside her as she reminded herself that her ancestors had made it for _her._

(Well, for the "Ancient Princess,") she snorted. (They'd probably hang themselves if they saw who _that_ turned out to be.)

A low rumble shook the walls around her and, for a moment, she held her breath.

(Chaos.)

The pulse faded. She exhaled loudly.

There wasn't anything she could do; a blizzard was happening outside and the only way to survive Chaos was...well, to _not_ fight Chaos.

(So I guess I just have to wait it out and hope he gets it under control.)

A wave of sadness came over her suddenly. Vincent was downstairs fighting for control of his body- fighting to keep a certain evil from killing them both- and where was she? Sitting in a musty guest bedroom moping about a box.

Guilt began to come in the wake, but she refused it.

(This is _no_ time for a pity-party,) she thought, standing. (I might not be able to look for that damn key right now, but I sure as hell don't have to sit here.)

She gathered her pack and headed for the door, peeking out into the hallway carefully before stepping out. Tiptoeing to the stairs, she couldn't help feeling six-years-old again as she crept downstairs to the sitting room.

The fire was getting low, so she added to it.

(Don't want Shalva to freeze.)

Pulling the old wingback chair back in front of the hearth, she shook out the musty blanket draped across the armrest and wrapped herself.

(I wonder if there's anything in the kitchen?)

She wasn't hungry, but she could use a drink. Shuffling out of the room and around the corner, she fought the urge to run through the darker parts of the foyer as she went.

(If Chaos were here, you would _know_.)

To her delight the kitchen had a few night-lights on- one over the counter and one over the stove- so there was no need for the intrusive overhead.

(Not to mention it means we still have electricity.)

She crept to the corner where a small cabinet sat, bedecked with assorted glasses and an empty pitcher. Crouching, she opened the doors and sighed a happy sigh at a small bottle of Rocket Town whiskey. The dim light glinted off its neck as if to say hello.

"So nice to see _you_," she pulled the bottle from its home and poured a small glass. She nearly put it back in the cabinet, then thought better of it and left it on the counter.

"I _will _be seeing you again soon."

She shuffled back to the sitting room and plunked herself in front of the fireplace, allowing a few minutes for the fire and the drink to warm her before she ventured a look around the room.

There wasn't much. Just some paintings, a few statues and a couple of tall bookshelves. A table sat against the wall that held the door; it looked oddly out of place. She assumed it was something Vincent had put there- at first.

As she moved closer she saw a couple of empty, dirty coffee mugs on either side, bordering an array of papers and a small stack of books.

"Ow!"

Something shocked her side and she jumped. She reached down and pulled out the Spirit materia.

It was humming.

"What...?"

In front of her the small stack of books began to shake. The first two fell from the pile and there, buckled elegantly to the top of the third book, glittering in the light of the fireplace, was the Relic Key.

She gaped.

"You've _got _to be-."

The pulse of Chaos shuttered through the walls again, this time a bit more violently.

And this time, it didn't fade after a moment.

It started low beneath her feet, and as it grew Yuffie could visualize the blur of darkness making it's way up the basement stairs.

And then, suddenly, the sound of rusted metal cracking under immense force echoed into the foyer. A loud, unearthly shriek followed. Then silence.

"Oh my gods," she whispered.

Large, clawed feet on old hardwood clunked about outside, and she wasted no time. Ripping the Relic Key from its binding she made a break for her rucksack beside the chair. She had no idea if what was in the box could stop Chaos- or help her at all, for that matter- but it was her only move.

As she slid the key in place the wood seemed to fall apart, as though it had only been loosely glued in place the entire time. What looked like a small-scale replica of Conformer fell to the floor.

Aside from its initial humming, Yuffie hadn't really noticed the noise from her Ancient materia had been growing. Now that the relic had been released the sound grew from a loud hum to a shrill, irritating ring.

And then it shocked her, this time a bit harder than it had before.

"Shit!" she yelped, dropping it.

The moment the orb hit the floor it came to life, rolling to the relic and clattering over it before snapping into what appeared to be a materia slot in the center.

Yuffie furrowed her brow.

"It's...an _accessory_?"

Another shriek from Chaos shook the mansion, sending her heart into her throat. He was in the foyer now- probably on the staircase, from the sound of it. He was looking for her.

"Gods protect me," she breathed, grabbing the piece off the floor and drawing Conformer. She fit them together as she walked to the door, praying the add-on might actually give her a chance against something she'd never seen anyone survive before.

Darkness shrouded her as she entered the main room, but she saw the monster's red eyes on the landing without a problem. They were set on her- burning into her- and she only stared back.

Vincent was no longer there, it was just Chaos.

Lightning flashed through the glass behind the monster, showing it perched on the banister that separated them. At once Yuffie felt the blood drain from her face, but she didn't move. She waited.

With an ear-piercing howl Chaos leapt from the railing, lunging toward her. The ninja screamed, holding Conformer between them. She shut her eyes.

The sound that came next was deafening, and when she opened her eyes she was almost certain it had been a combination of Chaos, glass and thunder.

The creature had been thrown back the way it came and then further. Snow poured in through a large hole in the window lining the upper-hall. A thud vibrated beneath her feet, and she could only assume it was Chaos hitting the ground.

And suddenly, all she could think about was Vincent.

Fear gripped her as she rushed to the doors leading from the ground floor to the garden. She'd never known Chaos to suffer defeat, but she would be willing to bet it would take the bitch way out and let Vincent sustain the injuries.

She was right. Partially.

A mangled mess of claws, flesh and blood greeted her from the empty fountain. If she hadn't already been numb from fear, the cold of the snow would have done it; she waded through the knee-high drift to crawl in beside him.

"Vincent?" her voice was small, even to her. "Vinnie, can you hear me?"

He shifted, and she breathed a little easier- but not much. Sliding further into the fountain she picked up his heavy head and set it in her lap. From beside them Conformer rattled on the concrete ledge. Yuffie looked at her weapon, then to the creature in her lap. Under her hands she could feel the faint, familiar buzz of Ancient materia.

She reached into his pocket and pulled the materia.

(He must have gotten it out of the box hoping it would stop Chaos.)

The orb was only in her hand for a moment before the relic drew it out. Just like her materia had done, Vincent's materia rolled over the relic before snapping into a slot beside hers. Together the pieces made her weapon glow a deep red. The light spread over the two of them, and for a moment, Yuffie looked down and saw Vincent, his face partially human again. He was looking up at her.

"Hold on."

She leaned onto his chest, gripping his tattered shirt in one hand and Conformer in the other, and together they disappeared.

* * *

><p>It was a calm warmth unlike anything she'd ever known.<p>

Yuffie shut her eyes, taking in the feel of the sun on her skin as she lay on the beach of Costa del Sol. In the near distance the sound of waves breaking on the shore reached out to her, adding to the tranquility that enveloped her body.

Beside her Vincent stirred, having fallen asleep on his stomach. He pushed to rest on his elbows.

"You ready to go back to the villa?"

"Not yet," she hummed contentedly.

"...You look happy."

She smiled, dropping her head back to let the sun run across her neck.

"I am."

He reached out and took her hand in both of his. It was a moment before she realized they were both normal.

Her serenity faded. She slipped his touch, drawing her knees in to rest her forehead on them.

"Yuffie?"  
>"This is a dream."<p>

Vincent moved to put an arm around her.

"What do you mean-?"  
>"Don't-." she swatted him away. "Just don't. I know you're not Vincent. I know this isn't real."<br>"But Yuffie-."  
>"You've got <em>two<em> _hands_, for Ifrit's sake!"

He stared at her for a long minute, then sat back.

"This is a dream." he looked over his arms. "...It's a dream."

Yuffie hesitated. "Wait. Are you really...you?"

He sighed.

A wave of guilt washed over her. "Oh, Vinnie, I didn't know-."

"No, it's...it's fine." he shook his head. "It just seems very real."

She watched him for a moment. His hair was shorter- much shorter- and his skin wasn't riddled with scars and ShinRa tech. He looked like he did before the experiments.

"Why are we here?" she wondered aloud.

"You are here because you have a choice."

The two snapped to attention at the voice in front of them, alarmed when they found Minerva hovering above the water.

"This is a choice. In a few minutes you will be taken to a very different place, one where you will be forced to realize your destiny in this war. Once you've entered that place, there will be no turning back. You won't be able to stop the events that are to happen to you, you will only be able to give in and die, or fight for your freedom."

"You really don't pull any punches, do you?" Yuffie muttered flatly.  
>"What are you offering?" Vincent asked.<p>

"My offer is this: stay here. Live your lives together, here. You will never go hungry, you will never be sick. You will grow old and die together- here."

"Where exactly _is_ here?"

"That is not your concern."

She snorted. Vincent cleared his throat politely.

"If we took this deal, Yuffie couldn't face Vecena and save the Planet."

At the name of the witch, the sky darkened slightly. Minerva nodded.

"This is true. It will also be something that doesn't affect you here. You will live in peace."  
>"But her victory would affect everything- including you. How could it be possible to keep that from reaching us?"<br>"The magic I possess is old, Vincent. Older than Vecena, older than myself, even. Some of the things I can do cannot be undone even by the end of the world."

"This sounds bogus."  
>"It isn't," Vincent answered, eyes never leaving the Goddess. "Yuffie, this is very, very real." Turning to her, he took her hands again. "It <em>isn't<em> a dream. It's a choice."

A flicker of hope flashed across his face, and her heart sank. Hope was something she could never remember seeing in him before.

"Vincent…"

The pause was enough. He knew better. They both did.

"I know." He dropped his head. "I know we can't stay."  
>"The others-."<br>"I know."  
>"The Planet-."<br>"God-_dammit_ Yuffe, I _know!_" He stood, pulling away from her to angrily pace the sand.

"No one ever asked if I wanted this, you know," Yuffie said, rising to face Minerva. "No one ever gave me a choice. 'Save the world or die trying.' I feel like that's all I've ever done with my life- all _any_ of us have ever done."

"Which is why you have this option now."

"What? To let the world rot with our friends in it while we sit here on this…'untouchable plane'? What kind of option is that?"

Her face hardened. "You do not get to choose your 'options'."

"Yeah…I can see that." She looked to Vincent. "What if he stays, and I go?"

Vincent stopped pacing and looked at her. "What?"

"What if you stayed here? You would be safe. You wouldn't ever want for anything. You would be _whole-_."

"I _am _whole!" He approached her, taking her face in both his hands and lowering his voice. "With you, I am whole. Whether it's here, or there, or in the middle of a battleground. When I am with you, I _am whole._"

She stared at him for a while, tears nipping at the corners of her eyes. He wiped them away and pulled her into his chest.

"Maybe there's another way. Some way she can transfer your power to me, so I can go back and face this and you can stay here-."  
>"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," she spat, leaning back to look up at him. "And I don't know if having your hand back is what's gotten you all emotional or what-the-hell is wrong with you, but you? Yelling? It's exhausting."<p>

She continued to cry as she leaned back into him. He couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry."  
>"I won't go without you. I'm with you."<p>

Silence except for the sound of the sea, and they held each other for what felt like hours. But it wasn't long enough. When they finally looked to Minerva she was gone, and the water glimmered in front of them.

A breeze blew in as they faced it, and Yuffie shivered. Vincent plucked one of the beach towels off the sand and wrapped it around her, letting her hold the front closed with one hand while taking his hand with the other.

"To the end?" she whispered.  
>"To the end."<p>

They waded into the water, the glow washed over them and they disappeared.

* * *

><p>"Well, well, well."<p>

Yuffie gasped, eyes snapping open as though she were waking from a bad dream.

In front of her stood Vecena, arms crossed and faceless head trended toward her.

"You really, _really_ should have taken the deal, my dear."

Out of one bad dream, right into another.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: ** I swear I keep writing this chapter thinking "People just wanted a chapter of Yuffie and Vincent, so here it is!" …and then the chapter gets longer and longer and now it's gone from one to three. Thanks for hanging in there with me! ^^

**Thanks for the following Reviews!**

**FlawDiamonds: **Thanks for loving it! I love that you're reading it! :D

**CupofTeaforAliceandHatter**: You know, you're right. Chaos is a pain in the ass. ^^ Don't worry. They'll get there!

**TOWTWUKER: **Creepy, yes. But eh, you know. Gotta have one in every bunch! ;D

**Blackstar Angel: **Ha! Everyone on GOT does die, don't they? At least the likable chars. :D Reno is alive. You'll hear more from him soon.

**Br0k3n Ang3l: **Thanks! ^^ Poor Vincent indeed!

**hannahbananaonthesavanna: **You know how I love stringing things along. Thanks for reading!

**Guest: **Well, Chaos DOES have a tendency to ruin things! :D Thanks!

**Franny Mika: **Thanks so much for your sweet review! I laughed a little—the last two chapters have been nothing but Vincent and Yuffie. But they are kind of how this whole thing got started so, I figured giving them a few to themselves wouldn't hurt! Glad to have you on board!

**ToFallUponTheNight: **Good gawd! You read that much in one day? You are a machine! Thanks for following—hope you didn't mind the long wait!

**Guest: ** I will keep writing! Thanks for reading! :D

**New Faves/Follows:**

**SirenMist, Franny Mika, ImTheSnarkKnight, xXSaithilienXx, GirlCalledBob, , ToFallUponTheNight, obsessiveicequeen, Soluzek **and **A Last Kiss For Succubus**!


	34. Chapter 34: Monster

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Monster**

"You really, _really_ should have taken the deal, my dear."

Yuffie's chest hitched- her breath coming out in a slow, warm cloud that dissipated seconds after passing her lips.

She was in a room with stone walls and a high ceiling. It was drafty. It was cold. The chair she sat in was made of a thick, heavy wood with a tall back and thinly padded leather seating. There was a long, empty dining table between them.

She shifted uncomfortably. "Where am I?"  
>"My home," Vecena replied. "In the upper chamber overlooking the Northern Continent and most of the Northern Sea." She tilted her head slightly. "Would you care to sit down?"<p>

"I prefer to stand."

Vincent's deep voice came as a welcome shock to Yuffie's ears, but she didn't dare turn to look at him. Not with the witch so close.

"Suit yourself."  
>"What do you want?"<p>

She snorted, turning from them to walk the length of the table.

"_I_ didn't bring you here," she started, the train of her long dress dragging lazily behind her as she paced. "Minerva's magic has a tendency to slow when it passes near me. You're technically still being transported back to that shack in Nibelheim."  
>"So you can't touch us."<br>"Please. I could kill you if I wanted."

Yuffie wrinkled her nose. "Then why don't you?"  
>"Because," she turned her head over her shoulder, "if I did <em>that<em> I wouldn't get to see the looks on your faces when I lay waste to your wretched little Planet by sucking the Lifestream from its veins."  
>"Classic."<br>"You could have avoided the calamity, you know. Stayed on the plane. As much as I hate admitting it, Minerva was right- I wouldn't have been able to touch you."

"But we're here," Vincent said. "And we're going to fight you."  
>"Please do. It's more fun for me if you struggle."<p>

She kept walking, her form becoming hazier as she went.

"I'll see you soon, children. And Vincent? Make sure you say hello to Chaos for me."

At the name of the demon Yuffie felt the back of her chair shift. She turned.

"Vincent…!"  
>He was doubled over clutching his chest. Already the horns were beginning to protrude from the top of his head.<p>

"No!" She yelled, rushing to kneel in front of him. "Vincent, get ahold of it! You have to fight him!"  
>"Hold…on…"<p>

Before she could open her mouth they were gone again.

* * *

><p>The moment she felt her feet on solid ground again, Yuffie swung her arms about her.<p>

"Vincent!"

He wasn't in front of her. He wasn't beside her. As the room came into focus she saw he wasn't anywhere around her. She was alone in the confines of her room in the ShinRa Mansion. She was alone, and it was dark.

Without hesitating she ran for the door, throwing it back with every intention of bolting down the hall. What she met sent her reeling several steps backward.

The silhouette of Vincent's half-transformed body loomed over her. Icy wind from the broken window in the hall poured around his frame, whipping what tattered pieces of his cape were left up to meet the ninja as she stared up at him, a mix of terror and determination in her face.

Red, glowing eyes bore into her; she met them with a strength she didn't know she possessed. Forgetting to breathe she steadied herself and pushed forward, closing the distance between them. As she neared Chaos let out a breath so hot it welted the skin on her neck.

She stopped.

Reaching out with a trembling hand, she placed it on the side of the monster's face.

"I can see you."

A low growl rumbled in his chest. She didn't move.

"You need to come back to me now."

Lightning flashed, lighting the room just enough for Yuffie to see the monster's boiling eyes begin to soften. His body stiffened and then, all at once, Chaos began to melt away.

Several minutes went by until only the man was left- his clothes in shreds and his skin smeared with the ash of the monster that had passed back into his soul. His hair was long again, his arm was back to a mangled mix of tech and flesh.

It was the Vincent she knew. The one she loved.

"Is it gone?" her voice was barely audible.

Vincent reached up and took her hand from his face, holding it in his.

"Yes."

She stared up at him. He was finished wasting time.

Pulling her in, their lips met in a heated wave. Passion and desperation consumed them as he swept her off her feet, practically stumbling to the bed behind her as she gripped his shoulders, ripping at the buckles that held his cape. It didn't take long for his shirt to come off, and she arched into his sculpted chest as he buried his face into her neck, biting carefully at her flesh.

"Please-."

He leaned away from her just long enough to unbuckle and remove her armor. Everything was heavy now, even the air they breathed seemed to suffocate them as he moved to kiss her again. Her lips were sweet, just the way he remembered; the way he had imagined them every day since the night in Costa del Sol.

Her whimpers turned to gasps as he slid his human hand between them, gently grazing her femininity. She parted her legs willingly.

The first cry came within seconds of touching her. Pleasure gripped her body and she arched into him again. He was quick to catch her, taking a breast in his mouth and drawing the nipple taut with his tongue. She moaned, begging him with words that didn't quite make it out of her mouth to take her again. Removing the rest of his clothes, he returned to the comfort of her body, taking her face in his hands as a silent plea to brace herself.

She peered at him through cloudy eyes, nodding absently.

He slid in carefully, giving her a moment to adjust to him before moving. He groaned, leaning heavily on his clawed arm as the velvet of her body coaxed him to go faster. She came again, then again- each time tripping his name out a bit louder than the last. Finally he released with her, collapsing beside her in a heap of sweat and heavy breathing.

For once in their lives time seemed to pass slowly in a good moment. Yuffie shifted to lay her head on his chest, and Vincent carefully wrapped both arms around her. They listened to the thunder-snowstorm as it passed, only speaking once after some time.

"On the beach- the plane Minerva took us to…"  
>"Yes?"<br>"What you said. About being whole- with me-did you mean that?"

He breathed deeply. She wasn't looking at him but she could feel the smile cross his face.

"Yes."

More time passed. At some point Yuffie drifted off to sleep. Content for once in his sleeplessness, Vincent pulled the covers up around them and pressed his lips into her hair.

"I love you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Things I am aware of:**

**Ari, it's been like 7 months!  
><strong>Yes. Yes it has. I've been busy pushing out a baby and caring for it whilst chasing the other one (Who is still under the age of two).

**Ari, this chapter is like three and a half pages long!  
><strong>Indeed. Compared to my usual 6-10 bit this seems sparse. It'll get better. I've been gone for SEVEN MONTHS for Ifrit's sake.

**Ari, don't you usually do a 'Thank You' section at the end of your chapters?  
><strong>I do. It's just been a long time and my notifications list in Hotmail is buried under junk mail. I will definitely have one for the next chapter!

**In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has waited patiently/followed/reviewed over the last seven months. Hope you enjoyed the little lemon at the end of this chapter. Let's get back into this drama! **


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